GET OUT!!

I just watched a story on Generation X'ers being deprived of nature, thus making us all more unhappy than our parents were. It said that Gen Xer's spend more time indoors than any other generation, and it offered a plethora of scary statistics about what thats doing to us and our offspring. Apparently as kids we played outside an average of 57 minutes a day, while our children are averaging a mere 8 minutes a day! The study found that the 8 minutes is often accounting for the time that we shuffle them in and out of the car, and that our kids are getting little or no outdoor playtime. Ack. Dr. Greene and Dr. Sears reccommend 30 minutes of playtime outside per day. Nature calms children and adults. We need it to for our internal rthyms. When I was a child I played in the snow for 3 plus hours, and had to be dragged inside. As I drove through my neighborhood today, on this warm winter day, I couldn't find a child outside. Why are we inside so much? It isn't even that fun to be inside. I know that I'm victim to avoiding the outdoors in the winter because its cold, the sun isn't out, and hibernation feels good, but I could be better about getting myself and Olivia out.

Dave took Olivia for a sled ride today after lunch, and they both arrived back home glowing and happy. Olivia told me about the birdies and trees that she saw on her ride. Sometimes its a pain to get Olivia dressed in all of her snow gear, but even after a brief time outside, she is a happier kid. I guess we gotta get out more!