“Are you going to come outside with us, Miss Rebecca?” he asked.

“What’s that?” I didn’t quite hear all of his words.

“Remember yesterday, you said that today you would put on your boots and come run the race with us.” he explained.

I was really touched.  An eight year-old boy wanted me to play outside with him.  A good friend of my boys, he had a spring break sleepover with us.  Yesterday, the boys discovered 15 small mounds of dirt down the street, likely placed there by an excavator.  And they proceeded to have a motor-cross-like adventure on foot: up and down and around the dirt mounds.

I am nearing the “non-cool” phase for my older son.  He knows I like to be outside, and I can tell he likes to be outside too, but he’d never admit it.

“Want to join us mom?” my eight year-old asked yesterday as they were running around the mounds and I was sitting on my bike, savoring a beautiful sunset through the still leafless trees, knowing that in a week or two, the leaves will block the way.

“I’d love to, but it’s just about dark and I don’t have the right shoes on.  How about first thing tomorrow, I’ll put on my boots and we can all come back out again?” He seemed excited with my response and ran back to join his brother and friend in the dirt.

You see, I had a really bad Monday, and a little better Tuesday, and any uplifting moments were the ones I had with my kids outside. On Monday, I was operating on little sleep, my five year-old had strep, my eight year old didn’t seem to like me anymore, and I was cranky because our community’s builder keeps knocking down trees. So, after firing off emails in an attempt to have someone listen to me, I refocused on my time to my kids, taking long walks with the dog, planting 50 pea seedlings with my five year old, and we put up our tent in the back yard (at his request).  We even roasted s’mores.

Then, to have such a heartwarming invitation from my eight year old and his friend, it reaffirmed once again my faith that the outdoors is a space that keeps us healthy, brings us together, and is an automatic recipe for fun.

Nurtured by a daily dose of fresh air, planting peas, and an invitation from my kids to play, my blues washed away.

Plus, seeds are planted, my boots are good and muddy, and while I never won the on-foot motor-cross race, of course I didn’t need to. We got some exercise, had some laughs, and then we had another adventure: finding special rocks a.k.a. “mining for gold and diamonds”.

Best of all, I feel like myself again.

Rebecca P. Cohen is the author of the upcoming book, 365 Days Outside: A Mother’s Journey to Improve the Well-being of Her Family and Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to spend more time outside together. Rebecca is also creator and producer of the television series, Get Out of the House, inspiring you to create memorable moments outside every day. Join Rebecca and other parents around the country as they Plant Peas for Earth Day. To learn more, visit http://www.rebeccaplants.com.

You’d think that when my kids had so much fun last night after I forced them to walk the dog with me, that they would be excited this morning to do it again. Nope. As I explained to them yesterday, my rule is “When everyone is well, Mommy doesn’t walk the dog by herself. One or both of you has to come with me.” Yes, this is a rule, in part, because I want to get my kids outside and in part that it’s their responsibility to their pet. And it works.

Yesterday, after my older son fussed “It’s not fair!” countless times and when I said he had no choice, he headed out the door and brought his football with him. Instantly, he had a grand time, tossing the ball back and forth with his brother and me while we walked. We even picked up a neighbor who came with us, and the kids had a 45-minute outdoor play date, running around with the football and in the snow. I got the dog walked, the kids exercised and happy, and I didn’t even have to provide snacks or dinner for the play date!

Back to this morning. My younger son, who is five years old, volunteered to come with me to walk the dog. We suited up in our snow gear, which always takes a little while – but it’s worth it. He brought along a small bouncy ball and proceeded to kick it back and forth with me on the walk. Half way around the neighborhood, where the road dead ends and you’re forced to turn left, there is a patch of woods on the right. “Mom, can you watch my ball for me?” my son asked, turning as if to walk away. “Sure,” I said. “But where are you going?” “I want to check out something over there.” he replied confidently. “OK,” I said nervously. The direction he was going in had many obstacles in his path: large boulders moved by construction bulldozers, tree debris, and even some pipes. He found a walking stick and worked his way around the obstacles to a patch of 10’ x 10’ shallow ice that his brother and the neighbor found the night before.

About 50 yards away from me, he got to work. Doing what? I have no idea, but he was very focused and it seemed he was in his own world. I sat on a mound of snow likely left by a snowplow earlier in the week and just sat and watched him. Snow was falling, and I savored a peaceful moment, in awe at his comfort, curiosity, and confidence. After 10 minutes, he looked up and stretched out his arm for a big, happy wave to me, and then resumed his work. After another 10 minutes, he shouted, “Okay Mom, now it’s your turn!”

I walked toward him unsure of what was going to happen next. “Mom, I’m going to take you on an adventure,” he said smiling and turned to walk in a direction we had never gone before, straight up a 25-foot-high mound of dirt. I followed him, but I said hesitantly, “I don’t really like this,” in a way that meant I was scared and unsure rather than ‘this is dangerous and we can’t do this.’ “It’s going to be great Mom, you’ll see. I’m going to show you something amazing.” And with the confidence of a great mountain explorer, he hiked up the rocky, unsettled and frozen dirt hill with small patches of grass and likely many hibernating critters (there were lots of holes). He checked the firmness of the ground with his stick before he took each step and led a crooked path to the top. Looking in the distance and smiling, he said, “Look at this view!” It was a cool view – certainly higher than we’ve stood before in our neighborhood, looking out onto a wooded area. He explored the top of the dirt hill for a minute and then he said, “Now to go back down, which I’m not sure how to do, but we’ll find a way.” “Why don’t we go back the way we came?” I asked. And he replied, with his face showing me he was figuring it out, “You can’t always do things the same way.”

Coming back down the hill, I was done exploring, but my son was clearly just beginning. “Come on Mom, let’s continue our hike! Can we have a picnic today? It feels like it’s been a long time.” I really had no excuse for needing to go back home; today is a school snow day as the Washington, D.C. area anticipates 1-2 feet of snow. We were suited up in our snow gear, warm, and the falling snow was beautiful. The fresh air and exercise was not only good for my son, it was good for me too. I clearly was exercising the limits of my comfort zone for new experiences, which is not a bad thing.

Walking home, my son declared, “Well I’m staying outside all day, and nothing can stop me. There are a million, quadrillion, crillion, billion things to do outside. You can watch TV for hours and then be bored. Why not go outside and have fun?”

So go have fun outside today, no matter where you may be.

Rebecca P. Cohen is the author of the upcoming book, 365 Days Outside: A Mother’s Journey to Improve the Well-being of Her Family and Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to spend more time outside together. Rebecca is also creator and producer of the television series, Get Out of the House, inspiring you to create memorable moments outside every day. To learn more, visit http://www.rebeccaplants.com.

Copyright 2010

Rebecca Plants LLC

“Rebecca, you have to see this before the sun comes up,” said my husband as I lay under the warm and toasty covers. I willed myself out of comfort, and sure enough, it was an amazing site. All I could see was the outline of trees completely covered in white, powdery snow as far as the eye could see. I stared in awe for a moment.

“Mommmmmmmmmmmmm!” my seven year-old cried. “My head huuuuuuuuuuurts!” which pulled me back into my morning mom duties. “School has been cancelled,” my husband said. “I have a busy day; I’m going to go ahead and get on the road.” And as if it had been an instant, he was gone to work.

“Warner, stop!” my seven year-old yelled to his five year-old brother.” “You stop!” he yelled back. All I could think about were the business-related items that I wanted to get done, and well, since returning home from a business trip seven days ago on a red eye, I have been caring for my sick older son, who had a persistent 102 fever and splitting headache for seven days. I had a momentary pity-party for myself – there are far worse things that could have happened and there is far more suffering in other places that put the situation into perspective. Upon taking my older son’s temperature, it was finally normal, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He is ok.

As he lay on the couch watching TV, calling over to me to get the remote for him that was on the coffee table two feet from his body, I said, “you are going to have to practice being well today. You’ve gotten too used to feeling bad.” Yesterday, I prematurely took him on a walk to pick up his younger brother from school and his fever went back up, so I knew he wasn’t faking his lethargy. “I’m just tired,” he said.

Upon hearing a noise, I turned to the window to see a neighbor using his snow blower to clear our driveway. What an amazingly kind gesture. I was about to take blueberry muffins out of the oven (don’t worry, I’m not that perfect; I keep quick boxed mixes on hand for warm muffins on snowy days), and my younger son and I suited up in snow gear to take some out to him to say thank you.

As soon as I stepped outside with my younger son and the dog, I looked up, and it was as if my lungs magically opened up with a cleansing breath that balanced the breath-taking view that was in front of me. While I saw that the trees were beautiful an hour earlier, there was nothing like stepping outside to experience it. And with the sight of powdery snow everywhere, my cares and worries were gone – just like that.

So, while the Washington Post has an article today about how local residents have had enough of the four snowstorms this season, I say, “bring it on.” Because most tasks we think we need to race to likely aren’t as important as taking a moment to breath deep, experience the beauty around us, and practice being well.

And when my younger son and I got back from walking the dog, my seven year-old had gotten his snow gear on, ready to go out and play.

Rebecca P. Cohen is the author of the upcoming book, 365 Days Outside: A Mother’s Journey to Improve the Well-being of Her Family and Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to spend more time outside together. For Rebecca’s Curiosity Cards, a set of 50 portable question and activity cards for fun family time outside, visit http://www.rebeccaplants.com/cards.asp

Copyright 2010

Rebecca Plants LLC

Forcing fun isn’t really possible, but when my kids are having trouble peeling themselves away from video games, I have been known to put my foot down and take them outside.  After just a few minutes, they forget that I forced them to do it.

A friend of a fellow garden designer and writer, Starla J. King, http://www.rebeccaplants.com/wordpress coined the term “forced family fun,” and with that concept in my head this past weekend, I looked forward to putting it into practice when the time was right.  

Sure enough, late Sunday morning, my two boys, 5 and 7, were clinging to their cartoons.  In conspiracy with my husband, we created a ballot of two choices for family time outside:  fishing or renting a small boat, both of which were new to us.  Each of the four of us submitted our anonymous ballot.  Upon reading the small pieces of paper, we discovered that my husband and I picked something different.  But, the boys each changed their ballots to choose both fishing and renting a boat.

We didn’t need to pack much for our spontaneous adventure:  life jackets for the kids, a small backpack with retractable kids’ fishing rods that I bought from a big box retailer last summer, and a picnic lunch.  And we didn’t have to go far.  We found a public fishing lake just 10 minutes away through NWF’s Nature Find http://www.nwf.org/naturefind, where you just enter your zip code to find nearby parks.

Our lunchtime fishing trip turned into wonderful family time that lasted five hours.  The excursion was such a hit, seeing dragonflies, fish, geese, and even a heron, that we all decided we would go fishing once a week from now on.  Try your hand at forced family fun, and see just how fun it can be.

Rebecca P. Cohen is Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to be outside and improve their well being.  For her free list of 50 Outdoor Activities for Busy Families, visit http://www.rebeccaplants.com/outdoorliving.asp