Happy Mother’s Day!

Cheers to all the mothers, grandmothers, and care-takers out there! To all the women who touch our lives across a lifetime…

Thank you for every skinned-knee you clean, bad dream you hush away, cookie you bake, and broken heart you soothe.

For every costume you make, story you read, school play you sit through and drawing you hang on the fridge…

May your day be filled with blue skies, rainbow-colored flowers, heart-felt hugs, and more laughter than you know what to do with.

I give you the gift of a giggle or two, and perhaps — just perhaps — a knowing smile.

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed! His underwear is hanging on the lamp.

His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair, And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.

His workbook is wedged in the window, His sweater’s been thrown on the floor.

His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV, And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.

His books are all jammed in the closet, His vest has been left in the hall.

A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed, And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.

Whosever room this is should be ashamed! Donald or Robert or Willie or–

Huh? You say it’s mine? Oh, dear, I knew it looked familiar!

Go be queens of your day!

xoxo – The Grass Stain Guru

photo by: CS_McMahon

Getting Cheeky About Outdoor Play

 

7.5 = number of hours of screen time school aged children experience daily

32 = number of hours of television preschoolers watch weekly

19 = percentage of infants one year and under with televisions in their rooms

25,000 = average number of television commercials a preschooler sees

I’ve tried lots of approaches to talk about this issue. I thought I would try something different this time. And a bit cheeky.

As an advocate for healthy, happy childhoods I will do just about anything to get the message out — and to make people actually listen.

Unplug. Set screen time limits. Get your kids outdoors for unstructured play experiences.

Explore your green community spaces. 

PLEASE. 

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru

Eavesdropping on Today’s Childhood

Love this! Anja Geelen sent this to me from NZ. She took a quote from my blog and attached the sign to her family's tent.

I was at the airport the other day on my way back from The Conference on the Value of Play, which made what happened all the more poignant.

A little girl no older than seven was telling her grandmother about all the activities she was involved in. She rattled them off like an executive rattles off meetings and conference calls: judo, dance, soccer, gymnastics and church activities.

Plus, she said as she rolled her beautiful green eyes, “I always have homework.

Her mother looked on with pride. Her grandmother looked apprehensive at best.

The Grass Stain Guru bit her tongue.

How, I wondered? How can this poor little girl keep up with all of that? She must be exhausted.

Why, I wondered? Why would her parents schedule this poor little thing within an inch of her life? And themselves? Somebody has to drive her to all of these activities.

When, I wondered? When does this bright-eyed little girl have time to be a kid?

Where, I wondered? Where did we go wrong as a society, sending the message that this is what childhood is supposed to be like? That this is what parenting is supposed to be like, a veritable Cruise Director?

At the airport that day I eavesdropped on society, and I didn’t like what I heard. At all.  I’m not sure why I was so surprised at what I heard. I’ve heard it ALL before, time and time again. I’ve written about it before…spoken about it.

But coming off that conference being surround by others who are play advocates and scholars, the reality of today’s children’s reality hit me like a ton of bricks. And I didn’t like it one bit.

Simply put, what passes for childhood today is simply not good enough. It’s not good for the children, the parents/families, the teachers, and society as a whole.

I found this video the other day. This, my friends — this is what childhood should look like.

So folks, where do we go from here? Let me know your thoughts.

And now if you will excuse me, there is a tree I need to go climb.

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru 

Video credit: Right Where You Are Now from Craigmore Creations on Vimeo.

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