Make 'em run laps...

Unless I'm in the mood for it, I have a hard time taking the kids out to play in the yard when it's cold. I love snow storms. I'll go out and play, no problem. But, on a 28 degree day when there's no snow on the ground and a sky full of grey clouds, all I want to do is be warm. This has greatly affected my very energetic boys. The other day Eli, who is 4-years-old, started climbing up onto the kitchen table. And jumping off. I grabbed his boots and his coat. Odin has croup and the baby was moments away from waking up. I threw them on the floor and told him to get dressed. I got dressed. I took Eli outside and said, "Run!" I began running laps around our yard, with Eli right behind me. It's probably child abuse to just make him run off his energy alone, so I created a parent/child moment. We did about 5 laps around our backyard. Then I grabbed the soccer ball and we kicked it around for about 10 minutes. Odin stood at the door, snot running down his face, just in his diaper and crying. It was worth it, though. Eli's energy had been spent and his desire to run around was satiated.

Today, while the baby was sleeping, Odin decided it was time to bang on the kitchen table. I let him know that if he wanted to bang he could get dressed and go outside. Today, it was a balmy 36 degrees out. He banged his little fists wholeheartedly against the table. I let him know that if he decided to bang again that we would be going outside. He said, "No" and put his head down...in shame? A minute later, the little bugger started banging fervently against our poor, distressed table. I picked him up, without a word, got him dressed (croup is gone, just sniffles now) and we went outside. I gave him a bat, I grabbed a bat and we began beating up everything in sight. Eli wanted in on the fun and came out, too. It ended up turning into a music lesson of sorts. We experimented with hitting different things - the ladder, playhouse, slide, picnic table, fence and metal bucket. We talked about high and low sounds. The husband came outside and watched for a bit...and I assume he thinks I'm crazy.