1000 Hours Outside

That awkward moment when you spend a few years building a blog then abandon it for over 6 months.

I’ve missed creating content here. There were actually goals set for 2021 blog posts but I never made it around to them. I think it was entering the world of kid sports at full speed that put a damper on my spare time.

In January we started Sam and Tom in taekwondo twice a week (and we’re still at it!). In March we started (and both of us coached) spring soccer for both of them as well. Next up baseball (coached by Travis) and t-ball (not coached by me, I’ve already retired) started up before soccer even finished. Add in a few swimming lessons and spare time was hard to come by.

Henry was along for the ride and a really great sport about it all. He even helped coach 4 year old soccer from a hiking backpack on occasion!

Honestly, it goes against my gut instinct for 4 and 6 year old boys to be that hyper-scheduled. I know it works well for plenty of families and I know as they get older it’s just reality, but I did not like feeling like we were in a rush every single night.

And it’s not like they were having the time of their lives either—I’ll admit they would sometimes hang their heads at pick up if I told them it was a game or practice night (which it was just about every night for a while there).

So I am intentionally skipping fall soccer sign ups and getting back to simplifying a little bit until we pick up baseball again in the spring/summer. I am NOT anti-sports by any means. We did enjoy the spring and summer sports we played, overall, and there are a lot of great memories to be had in our future, I am sure of it. But no they’ll be okay missing one season of soccer at this age. Next year we’ll do our best not to overlap sports, at the very least.

So what will we be doing all fall?

My favorite new years resolution to date, the 1000 Hours Outside challenge.

Back in January my oldest was having a rough go of Kindergarten. So I went down a little internet rabbit hole for ways to improve confidence, manage frustration, and just overall boost mood and well-being. The next thing you know I was on Ginny’s blog and completely sold.

Everything she was saying just made sense.

I do believe kids are pushed earlier and earlier and earlier to read and write and do math. Just 25 years ago I was only in ½ day Kindergarten spending my days coloring. In the 1950’s only half of the country’s kids even attended a Kindergarten and learning to read in first grade was the norm. These days we get a little nervous if 4 year olds aren’t writing their name well.

Does that change freak anyone else out?

I mean, I noticed elements in my new Kindergartner’s homework that I specifically recall learning in 3rd grade!

Recess is shrinking and curriculum is expanding and the pressure just seems a little much at times. So I learned about the benefits of outdoor play contributing to intellectual development, sunlight before noon, imaginative play in nature, even the benefits of good old fashioned boredom.

The average child spends well over 1000 hours a year looking at a screen. That’s concerning but it’s also real life. The great thing about this challenge is that it isn’t about eliminating said screen time, it’s about matching those hours with outdoor time as well!

So that’s what we set out to do and I believe it’s made a difference.

Do I really track each and every hour outside? With a tracker sheet up on our dining room wall, yes! It’s part of a daily routine now to fill in a few bubbles.

Sure, we’ve have always liked to play in the yard or driveway, go swimming, go camping, etc. But being intentional and focused about outdoor time (and so much more aware of the array of benefits) just clicked for me and we have made some really great memories.

We went on hikes in January—in the bitter cold! I never would have done that before. We said no to morning cartoons sometimes on Saturdays and started our day with breakfast picnics then stayed out all day long. We played in the snow for HOURS, not minutes like in the past. We took up stargazing from the playhouse. We discovered nearby state parks, hiking trails, and adventure spots.

Absolutely.

But the world moves fast these days. Somehow, I think it’s faster than it used to be. Childhood certainly seems to end earlier. How can we slow it down? Maybe the answer is trying to avoid some of those “newer” things that only have become the norm for kids in the last 20 years?

I don’t want these precious childhood hours stolen away from me with an overload of organized sports, an increase
in curriculum and school pressures and an ever-present iPad/internet. It’s taking effort to slow it, but I think it will be worth it.

A long, slow day on the river watching my kids master fishing on their own is the reward. Laying on our backs to watch for shooting stars (even just for 30 minutes) and talking with them sometimes feels like more time than I spent with them in a whole day. An hour-long hike in the woods is almost like time standing still.

We are approaching somewhere in the low 600’s in hours and fully loving this concept and all the benefits it brings. I urge you to check out @1000hoursoutside on Instagram and join in!