Time (and bubbles)
I read an article last week about how important it was to give our little ones time. And most specifically time outside. We try to do that as much as we can. They are definitely little boys who like being outdoors rather than in. And it is very much our natural inclination to go out with them as opposed to staying in.
But it was really the “time” bit that struck me. As much as I try not to, I am very aware that a lot of the time we are rushing, needing to get somewhere, having to get dressed, jumping in the car, running late for school, etc etc… I know we all know it and feel it. I’m much more aware of it now second time around as well… I think because life just is generally busier when you have a second as opposed to when it was just one and there seemed to be all the time in the world?! And with school and work thrown in too it is definitely a bit of a puzzle.
But the time thing struck me. I don’t want to always be rushing little R to move on, finish something because we have to go somewhere else, do an activity quickly and then do the next thing. Hard, but it would be nice to slow things down just a bit when we can. I’m also in no rush to hurry him generally – I don’t feel the need to rush his progress to the next stage… crawling, walking, climbing, speaking, writing… it all comes, they all do it – and it’s nice to just watch them do it when they are ready and really enjoy it, savour the moment. No rush baby boy – stay little for as long as you like I say! It’s already going far too quickly for me to talk about without getting emotional…
So. Time. We got the bubbles out today and just spent ages with them. Gave him all the time he wanted with them. Rather than a quick “let’s do 3 minutes of bubbles…” I just let him explore them. He both absolutely loved it and got frustrated by them in equal measures as you can see… but the time he had to explore them, watch them, follow them, pop them, stamp his feet at them. It was really lovely. Can’t always slow life down, because life is life. It’s full on. But good to do it even for a chunk of time when you can I guess?
This was lovely. Whether it was the bubbles or the time, or both, it was lovely.
It is worth saying that there is some great and really interesting stuff about the importance of all of this on the blog https://1000hoursoutside.com/index.html/
Happy Adventuring x
