Let Them Play!

By Rachael Vilburn

Let Them Play! My true thought was, “Just let the boy go!” Earlier this year, we woke up to 2-degree weather with a real feel of -18 and a 15 mph wind. Blah! What are we going to do with this day? I slowly sat up in bed and debated whether to put on socks to walk across the tile or just go it barefoot- something about the wind howling outside affected how I was feeling inside at the moment. I decided against the socks- I was goin’ it barefoot! (ps- it wasn’t bad- I keep my house at 70-degrees). As I am finishing up my breakfast, my son bounds down the stairs and, looking out the windows at the flurry of snow-cicles proclaims, “It’s SNOWING!” a reminder that quite frankly I didn’t need. “Yes son. Thanks”, I thought.

“Mom! Can I go out and play?!” he asks enthusiastically. To save the day, my husband jumps in, “NO! It’s too cold!!” On the one hand I’m so glad he’s home today to be the bad guy; on the other all I can think is, “It’s going to be a long day”. Looking at my husband I give him the “Why not” shrug and say to my son, “It’s super cold, but you can go out if you want. BUNDLE UP! Hat, gloves, snow pants!” (for warmth more than snow). Ten minutes later three kids are standing like cattle waiting to be let out of the house. My final words before letting them go are, “Walk around the whole backyard and come tell me what you think”. Soon I am watching my kids trudge through the backyard and, before long, my lightweight, 2% body fat daughter walks in shivering, followed closely behind by her sister. “At least someone’s neurons are firing” I think to myself.

Realizing I am still missing one, I look up out the window to see my son making a snow-cicle angel on the trampoline. The thought occurs to me, “Do I let him jump on the trampoline with shoes on, just this once?” I decide against it, he’ll stop if he gets too cold. Little did I know, this would not be his last trip outside to play. Later, I find him back on the trampoline (that now has an inch of snow piled in one little area). Doing what? Jumping of course! Watching the snow pop off the trampoline with each bounce. Science! It quickly turns to a full throttle jump with snow flying upward. Instantly I think,(even though it isn’t a school day) “I’m so glad I home-school…. If he tried this on a school day at public school…” Well….face it! He wouldn’t be allowed to. On a day like today in public school they wouldn’t be going out to recess.

Caroline Paul says, “Risky play is really important for kids—all kids—because it teaches hazard assessment, it teaches delayed gratification, it teaches resilience, it teaches confidence. When kids get outside and practice bravery, they learn valuable life lessons”. It was risky of me to let my kids go out in such cold weather. The “what ifs” surrounding it are endless, but I try to spend my time focusing on the “what IS” and not the “what IFs”. When we focus too much on “what if” we become paralyzed with fear, and miss out on so much of the joy in life.

P.S. As I finished writing this my son was getting dressed up for his third round in the snow and cold. I was relieved to discover that he had on more than two pairs of socks.