Am I the only one who still wants the kids to play outside, when possible?

[momofkhm]

The temps outside are nice! It's barely 80 degrees. Humidity is low (right now anyway). I do expect it to go up this afternoon. But the point is, right now it's nice outside. DS is 10 and if he plays with the friend down the road, I want them outside when it's nice. They've been playing outside for an hour. Friend's mom got home and friend went inside. Mom didn't call him. In fact, mom got out of the car and called friend to see where he was. I know when they go inside, they play Wii. They are 10 and 11. I think they should be actively playing, running around, using their imagination. Play with the nerf guns. something. The key here is outside and moving.

 

I do know when the humidity gets up there and the temps get up there, no one wants to be outside. (Although, as a child, the heat never bothered me. I'd be at summer camp when it was 105, no a/c and be fine.) DS would be fine most of the time. But friend is hot and wants to go inside to play. I'm fine with it, when the temps and/or humidity warrant it, but now??

 

Is it just me?

 

(The girls are another thing. They don't usually play anymore. They chat as a general rule.)

[Jean in Newcastle]

It's not just you. I throw my kids out regularly and if I forget, they ask to go out! We have a couple of neighbors that unless we had met them, we would not know that they have children - when they aren't in school, those kids are inside ALL the time.

[Penny from Tenny]

I feel the same way, so don't feel it is just you. We have pretty strict limits on the amount of time for video games and then they have to find something else to occupy their time. It is definitely hot and humid where we live and if we get up to really high heat indices then I won't press the outdoor time. But, if they keep their camelbaks or water bottles with them when riding bikes, etc. then I'm not concerned even when it is hot. Like you, I grew up and never let the heat stop me from being outside most of the day and I figure it will be good for them as well.

 

Penny

[lmrich]

When they were younger, we got up early to go to the park to avoid the heat of the day. Now my kids are older and spend a lot of time at the pool. They did ride bikes around 9:00 this morning for 1/2 an hour. They will play outdoors for hours when the weather is cooler and the bugs are not as blood thirsty.

[Impish]

I have the opposite problem...keeping them in the house! :lol:

[Danestress]

My boys do several hours of outside sports every single day, so I don't mind if they want to chill out inside. It is sometimes annoying for me because of the noise, or just because I sort of have my own inside agenda, but it's their house too. I also don't always feel like being outside, so I don't expect that of my boys. I would expect everyone to exercise every day.

 

For me, I typically just say, "No video games or screen time" inside, and let them figure out what they want to do and where they want to do it. If they can't do video/screen stuff, they might play a board game, play ping pong, etc inside. We actually don't have video games, so this is only an issue if they are at a friends' house.

 

But again, mine have a number of hours outside as part of their sports, so I am looking at this from that angle.

[Mom in High Heels]

Indy goes outside as much as he possibly can. He loves to be out playing with other kids. We live in stairwell housing (military housing) and have a quad in the center of the buildings with a big playground. It is always hopping. Indy can only play Wii on the weekends (if he passes his spelling test with an A or B) and even then only a few hours. Sometimes we'll let him watch movies or Disney XD, but mostly he goes outside or plays in his room with Legos. I love that he goes out. My allergies are so bad that I can't (plus, it's hot and who wants that), and it does make his worse, but at 8, he doesn't really care.

[momofkhm]

My boys do several hours of outside sports every single day, so I don't mind if they want to chill out inside.

 

But again, mine have a number of hours outside as part of their sports, so I am looking at this from that angle.

 

This makes it completely different! They are getting outside. :)

[Audrey]

I think kids should be outside as much as possible as long as the weather is not dangerous. FTR, -10°C is not dangerous, nor is 40°C (not that it's ever got that hot here).

[twoforjoy]

I prefer my DS and his friends outside, but that doesn't always happen.

 

What drives me crazy is when they are coming in and out of the house every 5 minutes. And, usually they are not just doing that, but they are coming in and out both the front and back doors every five minutes. At that point, I usually tell them to pick outside or inside, but just stick with it.

 

I do generally have to insist that they stay outside to get them to stay out, though. We just don't have the world's most fun yard. When we're at friends' houses who have more stuff to do in their yards, DS usually doesn't want to go inside at all. So we do a lot of our outdoor playing at other people's homes.

[2squared]

We're an outside family too. One of the reasons we homeschool is so that my clan can have daily uninterrupted hours outside.

 

Yesterday the four olders spent 7 hours playing in the rain while I enjoyed blissful peace inside the house. I didn't even mind all the extra laundry. :001_smile:

[tricia]

It doesn't matter to me if they play in or out. As long as when they are in they are not watching a video or playing anything multimedia. I hated the hot weather when I was a kid so I have a hard time being outside when it is really hot and humid. Since I was about 11 or so I spent my summers indoors in an ice skating rink doing skating school since I was competitive. All day in an ice rink does not help one to learn to tolerate hot humid weather. I suppose that's the reason why it's so hard for me. So I don't blame my kids for not wanting to be out unless they are swimming.

[justamouse]

Nope, I shoo all mine out when they get 'bored'. Normally we're outside every day, but today is rainy and dreary, so we're reading and just enjoying the quiet.

[stripe]

My kids play outside for hours a day during decent weather with a group of neighborhood kids or by themselves.

[tadbhoward]

My older 3 are outside almost all the time, except for the last few weeks because the temps have been pushing 100. My 4th child does not sweat so she can only go outside when the temp is mild, for very short periods of time, or if she is in the pool.

[Kelly1730]

No, you aren't the only one:) We have a wonderful property with woods and a stream on a little over an acre. We have a basketball net, in-ground pool, bikes, scooters, water guns, balls etc. However, my boys can only seem to enjoy being outside if the neighbor boys can play. Drives me nuts!

Right now they are all (my boys and the neighbors) doing something on our front porch but at least they are outside. I have contemplated enforced outdoor time, especially during the school year when the neighbors are not home during the day. Never thought I'd have to "force" my kids to go out to play. :001_huh:

[Cricket]

We have the opposite problem right now. Two neighbor kids come over about 1 or 2 in the afternoon wanting the girls to play outside. Yesterday it was 112°F and today is supposed to be around 115°F. I let them play for a little while (they like to jump on the trampoline with a garden hose on) but then I make them come in. I told the kids to come over at 9 or 10 so they can play for an hour or two and then go home. I can't stand for my kids being outside when it is that hot! I suppose they are fine as long as they are wet but they still forget to drink and don't realize how hot they are getting.

 

So, no, I don't think you are unreasonable in expecting them to play outside when it is only 80! :)

[kristinannie]

I am dreading the day when DS5 starts having friends with video games. I don't want him to get sucked into that. My kids are outside A LOT. I am either out with them or inside the kitchen watching them out of the window. They ride bikes, play on the swingset and explore the nature in our yard! I would love it to stay like this forever!!!!!! I am a fan of CM and I totally agree that we all need fresh air daily and plenty of exercise!

[Jan in SC]

80 would be awesome! It's 80 before 10:00 am here. Yesterday it was 102, but felt like 115. My guys will stay in the pool all day, but they don't feel like playing baseball or basketball outside when it's that hot.

[Holly IN]

No. I have to really kick the kids out of the house to get them outside.

[snickelfritz]

We get out early and late, but from 11-5 or so, I limit it. At least, right now. Besides the heat, I don't want them out in the sun. We live in a newer neighborhood with no mature trees. So, there just isn't shade.

 

But, they aren't allowed electronics during the day.

[ChristusG]

I wish my girls enjoyed playing outside. I was outside all day long when I was a kid.

 

But they tell me that there's nothing to do, that it's hot (which, right now, it IS very hot), there's bugs all around them, etc. They stand at the door and ask when they can come in. :confused:

 

That being said, when they are inside, they are not stuck to video games or TV or the computer. They spend hours and hours in pretend play together every day.

[Mommy22alyns]

Yes, I want my girls outside as much as possible when temps/humidity permit. Unfortunately, we're now in full swing summer and it's pretty gross out there now. And we can't even refill the splash pool because we have a possibility of rain every day for the next 10 days. :glare: