Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy the great outdoors with your children.  No more being cooped up in the house, desperately trying to engage your children in productive activities when all you really want to do is plop them in front of the TV.  No more struggling to keep track of hats and gloves and boots and coats and scarves - all you need is a little sunscreen and poof - out the door they go.  The kids who prefer nudity are now dressed appropriately for the season, even the diaper free accidents no longer matter when you are out in the yard. 



However all of these freedoms so many other mothers relish all make summer a struggle for me - I’m not an outdoorsy girl.  I don’t garden or hike or even sit in the grass - heck, I don’t really even like sitting on our patio furniture.  But I know that the great outdoors holds many wonders that are important for happy childhoods, so I go to the park, stand in the blistering sun all greasy with sunscreen and sweat, and forget my own misery watching the joy on my children’s faces as they go down the slide.  The first time is as wonderful as the 81st.  I find some shade in our yard, and let the kids loose with the bubble machine or buckets of water and a wading pool.  I take walks around the block that last for hours, and I ooh and ah over each bird and tree and rock that is pointed out with pride and wonder. Because summer is for kids, and while the heat and the sun will soon wane, these memories will be with us for a lifetime. 

Kate Johnson writes Practical Pablum.