blogger mom

I'm listening to the sound of three wild boys running around the outside of our house like crazy monkeys with flashlights. They are playing cops and robbers. It's almost 10 o'clock and I keep thinking I should make Eric gather them into the tent for the night. Then I remember that for three years I put them to bed by 8 o'clock every night in the summer because the neighborhood was even worse during the summer months. They never saw a fire fly, never played hide and seek in the dark. We would take them camping at state parks and we would get so frustrated because they were ready to go in the tent or camper every night at dusk. They wouldn't run around like all the other kids at the camp site. Now I realize that they simply didn't know how to play like other kids, it wasn't a safe choice to run around and play at dark in our old neighborhood.

We've been here a year and we've spent a lot of time trying to teach them to play outside. For months they would only play on the concrete pad in front of the house even though we own 8 acres of land where they can run and play safely. I don't think they've been on that concrete pad once tonight. I'm sure we will camp at state parks again at some point, but our home is now our favorite camp site. Tonight they're sleeping outside with their daddy...if they ever make it to bed.