The Best “Family Vacations” are Just Outdoors
An important prelude: Sad but true, American childhood is moving indoors. In fact, according to the National Wildlife Federation, the average boy or girl spends just four to seven minutes outdoors every day. And here’s another astounding fact…By the time most children go to kindergarten, they have spent more than 5,000 hours in front of a television – enough time to earn a college degree! I have spoken with the folks at NWF and am passionate about doing something, both for my family and in my LifestyleMom life, to help reverse this trend. If you want to make a difference and you don’t want your children’s childhood to be spent indoors, check out the 2010 Be Out There Resolution. Sign the pledge and you’ll receive fun tips and tools to get your kids outdoors all year long. Your kids (and you!) deserve it.
I didn’t grow up with a family that did much in the way of outdoor activities together, unless of course weeding the garden could count toward enjoying the great outdoors. But I did grow up in a day when my mom would say girls “go out and play” and play we did. My sister and I would disappear for hours making forts in the woods, building jumps for sledding, biking around the lake and playing tennis. We canoed, picked berries, skated, and climbed trees. We enjoyed ski club and hiking and camping were my favorite Girl Scout activities. We spent most of our joyous childhood playtime outdoors. I wish my parents took us skiing, went bike riding and played tennis with us, that they took the time to play with us outdoors. Instead their weekends were full of house projects, the tennis racquets collected dust, and the family walks to the lake down the road rarely took place.
The exception to this was at my grandparents “camp.” We went to camp for a week or two every summer, it was a modest lake cottage, but rich with joy. Time at camp was family time, outdoor time, and it was always special. It is our time at camp that to this day conjures up my favorite family memories. My grandpa loved to take us sailing and I took great pride in being his crew in the weekend regattas that we rarely won. My grandma would cook and laugh, bird watch, walk and gather the most wonderful group of friends. One of my favorite memories with my dad is the countless hours that he flipped my sister and me, giggling, off his back into the water below. There was no TV and at night we’d go for walks, catch fireflies and chat over the blaze of a beautiful fire. It was there that my parents relaxed and were truly present enjoying time with us. It was all great fun.
Now I have three boys, ages 9, 7 and 5 and as a family “we’re in the sweet spot” … they’re great ages to do fun activities together and they are young enough that they still want to be with us! I want to savor this time, enjoy lots of “camp” moments. I don’t want to make the mistake of being so caught up with my many projects that I miss the boat on this wonderful time. But at home, despite the fact that we have good family time together, the never-ending list of things that need to be done is always in the background. It’s like a timer, ready to go off as soon as the game is over. It’s when we get outdoors together that the do-list disappears, that I’m most present and relaxed with my family. When outdoors we laugh and we truly play. We’ve enjoyed camping, hiking and even fishing and the little daily stuff like our jaunts to the park, nights grilling out, our spontaneous games of tag and soccer are some of my favorite memories. No matter how busy our life gets I try to remember that this little “vacation” is just a step outdoors. And a couple of weeks ago a dream came true,…I went skiing with my family for the very first time.
Dana Hilmer is the founder and editor-in-chief of Lifestylemom.com and the host of The LifestyleMom Radio Café. LifestyleMom was created to inspire, entertain and motivate women to create a family life and “me life” that they truly love.
