Early in the spring of last year, my husband and I started to realize that you didn’t need fancy grande vacations or expensive day trips (spending more money than one day should cost) in order to enjoy your family and your life. I know that this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to us but when we decided that we wanted to save a little extra spending money for an upcoming trip that we had planned (because yes, they are good too), we took the kids to a couple of different parks to go for a hike and explore the outdoors. We were pleasantly surprised by how much fun the kids had.
The first time we did this, we drove a little out of our way to Gatineau park. We walked the trails, did a mindfulness activity in a clearing, sat in a meadow to have a snack and decided at the end to stop under the bridge where a little river ran through to just listen to the sound of the water and let the kids play. I don’t have to tell you that these days, kids don’t get out to play as much as us 70’s and 80’s kids did and my kids are no exception. No matter how much I tell them to go out and play, it takes some sort of organized activity with us or friends to get them moving. They would rather do something inside. If I let them (which I mostly don’t - but mama needs time to sit in silence once in a while), they would play on the iPad or Nintendo all day long. It’s a constant battle. At first my kids didn’t really know what to do with themselves without toys or a particular activity/goal, but then something wonderful happened. They started to PLAY! They moved boulders and threw rocks in the river, found sticks and drew in the sand. They got their shoes wet and I let them (you can’t tell kids to play and not get dirty at the same time - it doesn’t work that way). The giggles and smiles and lack of desire to leave spoke volumes for how much their little souls needed this unstructured outdoor play. Such an obvious activity - yet such a lost art!
We had such a good time playing outside on the first outing that my kids started to ask if we could go somewhere to play outside. So the following weekend, we packed our picnic and went out in search of another nearby body of water and park. The following pictures are of my kids on that particular day. It was early in the season so still a bit chilly. When the kids asked if they could take their shoes off, my first reaction was to say no. But I stopped myself and said "go for it!". You can see in this pictures that they were thrilled to play and discover.
I have two things that I took from this experience that I would like to share with you dear friend. The first, is that it is always a good day to get out and play and discover something new. It was a bit chilly, the parks were not really open yet, we hadn’t found the location with the perfect reviews; we just allowed the day to unfold naturally (which I’m always working at doing).
The second thing that I learned is that we need very little to keep ourselves and our kids happy. As a society, we try very hard to keep up with one another. We’re blasted regularly with messages of lack and we go to great lengths to find a way to have what we’re told we need or we see that others have. I had a friend once who spent a great deal of time outdoors with her husband and her toddler. She frequently told me that they didn’t need much to be happy. I didn’t really understand what I do now, to be honest. I didn’t have much growing up and felt as though that I should give my kids everything that I didn’t have. But she knew a secret that I wasn’t ready to accept yet. It’s not about what we give them that we didn’t have materialistically. It’s about the love and joy that we give them that we didn’t have. If they feel loved, supported and accepted, then hopefully they will grow with the confidence to be who they are and never feel as though they need fancy vacations, new gadgets or a massive house to feel worthy. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of those things too. But instead of spending our lives striving for more - I have found that the key to serenity is realizing that you have everything that you need to be happy. Your joy doesn’t have to be contingent on that next vacation or dream job. Your joy can be found in learning to just be. To play and laugh and enjoy your loved ones. You may not have everything you’ve ever wanted, and that’s ok! What matters is that you have everything that you need and that you get out there and take part in the little things that can make you feel incredibly alive!
So my friend, what are you going to do to add a little bit of play to your day? What are some things that you’ve done in the past that didn’t cost a penny but still led to you have an amazing day?
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