Thank goodness spring is here because I was ready to lose my mind trying to find things to do inside the house. Lainey, age 6, has been watching way too much TV, and Joey, 16-months, is way too good at climbing the dining room table. So once the temp went up, we ran outside. Lainey and I grabbed some chalk and drew a hopscotch board. But where’s Joey? Oh, he’s making a bee-line toward the street! I better run.
This big, open world is very dangerous for a toddler. We need to install a fence or something. You can’t really explain to Joey the dangers of the street. And he doesn’t quite understand that he can’t climb up the neighbor’s steps. He has no concept of property. To a baby boy, everything is his.
“Hey dad, look at this,” Lainey yells. She wants attention too. Ooh, nice, a pretty chalk sunset. But where’s Joey? Oh, he just pulled a tulip completely out of the flowerbed like a radish.
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Now Lainey’s dribbling the basketball. Then she’s dangling upside-down from the swingset. Then she’s drawing a picture of a flower on the driveway. Hmm, she says her feet are sweaty. Okay. Then she’s doing casps…? (a gymastics move, supposedly). Now she’s eating a Popsicle and rambling on and on and on about the kids at school. Oh wait, where’s Joey?
Okay, he’s just in the garage pushing a snow shovel around. Wait, now it’s a rake. And now he’s throwing a football. Uh oh, what’s in his mouth?
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“Hey, dad,” Lainey says, standing on the baby swing. “Look at this!”
I love the sun. I love fresh air, grass, trees, blooms, nature. But it’s time to go back in the house. I need to ease into this outdoor thing. Thank goodness it’s only April. My corralling skills got to be pro come beach-time.