Spring

Thank heavens for spring.

I know we’re not yet past the possibility of a late snow storm. I know there will be lots of frosty nights yet before the warm weather really gets here. Don’t worry. I’m not yet planting the kale or putting out the lawn furniture.

But, purely from a parenting perspective, I can’t tell you how glad I am not to be fighting over coats and boots these last few days. It’s wonderful not to be looking for missing mittens every morning. I can hardly overstate how much nicer it is not to be bundling myself up to pick the kids up and drop them off from school.

Even better – they actually want to play outside again. The scooters and skateboards and bikes are all out. There are ramps and rails littered along the sidewalk. Basketballs are escaping down the street. Nerf bullets are all over the yard.

And friends are dropping by, not to sit around and complain that they’re not allowed to have screen time on a week night, but to practise jumps off the ramps and swing on the swingset and play in the tree fort and throw the football around.

The little girl from next door comes over with her parents to use the baby swing. The kid from down the street comes over with his new plastic light sabre to battle alien warlords. Friends from school descend to play huge games of “murderer”. Whole herds of kids head up to the schoolyard to shoot hoops.

Best – everyone goes to bed tired. Those young bodies have all been run to their limit, their muscles well and truly exercised, their energy well and truly expended. The don’t even have enough left over to fight with each other.

I love it. I love it a lot.

Welcome spring. Long may you brighten our days.