It’s been a rainy year. I know better than to complain, considering that most years in Texas feature more brown burned-to-a-crisp grass than the lush green kind on which you can walk comfortably with bare feet, but really. My kids are at each other’s throats, they’re tearing up the house, they’re longing to go outside—and when they do, they come back in with gobs of mud caked to their shoes and between their toes if they couldn’t find their shoes (which is highly likely). They will happily track this around the just-cleaned house. It’s art, so to speak—with footprints (and they can hide nothing; they went to the pantry for an unauthorized snack? No, they say. Well, there are footprints to prove it).
With so many rainy days and so many kids cooped up inside, I start arguing with myself about whether or not it would be a good idea to enforce my daily mandatory play-outside time.
It wouldn’t be that bad.
Have you seen the floor?
They’d have something to do.
They’d get all wet and muddy.
You’d have peace.
And that statement, in the end, gives me pause and necessitates one of the things I do best: an analysis of pros and cons, this one called: Pros and Cons of Kids Playing Outside.
Pro: They get a shower.
For some of them, that’s more than they got last week (what can I say? Preteens are tough). Letting them play outside means that I can skip wrestling them into baths and, instead, save my energy for wrestling them back inside.
Con: They’ll come back in dripping.
Rain is cold, which means my sons will refuse to put on their swimsuits; this kind of wet is different from pool-wet. They’ll need to wear layers for this, and all of those layers will get soaked. They will not think to take off those layers before coming back in—remember? It’s cold!
Pro: They won’t be constantly underfoot to trip me.
Particularly during the dinner hour, when tripping becomes exponentially more dangerous.
Con: But now I’ll likely slip in their wet footprints.
This is what’s called a no-win situation. Either way I’m going down. But baby, I’m going down swinging. Maybe. On second thought, I might need my hands to keep myself from dying. Falling’s not as easy anymore.
Pro: You don’t have to hear their fighting.
Research shows that kids fight every 2.5 minutes or so, and I’m pretty sure my kids are overachievers on this estimation. At least when they’re outside I won’t have to hear the ridiculous fights they start every other minute.
Con:
Is there a con to this point? I’m not convinced there is.
All things considered, playing in the rain doesn’t seem all that bad. It’s good for kids to be out in nature while nature is nourishing itself.
You might even decide to join them.
