Last Child in the Woods

I recently read a summary/article about the book The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv.  In short the book is about how there's a need to save our children from the lack of disconnect to nature.  He calls it nature deficit disorder and believes many culturally current childhood issues such as ADHD, depression and obesity are a result of this major divide between our children and the great outdoors.  Although I've only read exerts from the book I think that Mr. Louv may be on to something here.  I see exactly what he references happening in our own neighborhood.  There's perfectly built fences and paved sidewalks, there's constant parent supervision, there's culd-e-sacs and isolated subdivisions, there's beautifully landscaped neighborhood pools and ipods, cell phones, and many other methods of being incessantly plugged in.  Where are the "woods" to explore, the creeks to catch crayfish, the open fields to pick dandelions, the kids playing outside until the street lights go on?  Where are the mud pies?  We used to sit at the edge of my drive way and find puddles, sticks, and rocks and make mud pies for what seemed like hours!  It's very sad to think my own children will be part of this "Last Child in the Woods" generation.  I've written about this a bit in previous posts but only recently came across this book.  So what did I do upon reading about it?  I took Mallory outside to make good old fashion mud pies.  I encouraged her to do it herself, feel the textures and most importantly get messy!!  I would love to report that she adored the event but she wasn't as delighted about feeling nature as I would have liked her to be.  After about 10 minutes she said "play bubbles now."  I was momentarily disappointed and then I realized how young she was and all I can do is continue to give her those experiences and hope that one day she seeks them out herself!
                                                                         

Popsicles and Barefeet

There are few things that capture the essence of summer more than popsicles and barefeet...

Mallory the 2 year old..

I can't believe my baby girl turned two...

We went to Independence Grove for my little 2 year old photo session with her.  She was none too pleased to be my model!  She kept saying "all done mommy"!  Regardless of her lack of enthusiasm I think I still managed to get some nice shots.  Here are a few from that evening...

Here are a few from her birthday party....

The Party girl

Elmo Themed Birthday Party 

 

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

I was born in a small town...

Not only do I love the song "Small Town" by John Mellencamp but I could relate to it as well for I was born in a small town!  I have wonderful memories growing up in that small town where we road our bikes to the beach everyday in the summer, caught fireflies, knew all our neighbors, frequented the local candy store, and lived a very simplistic modest life style.  Over the 4rth of July weekend I was reminded of that small town feeling as we went to our towns local festival.  We've lived here for three years but never really spent a lot of time at the local festivities.  We met my family there and had a great time!  Mallory went on every carnival ride she qualified for, we ate pizza, drank lemonade, listened to live music and watched the fireworks into the evening!  And in "small town" fashion we even ran into some friends that live in the area, exchanged hellos and went on our merry way!  For the moment it was a feeling of living in that Mellencamp song as I fondly recalled the lyrics..."No I can not forget where it is I come from".  Oh how easy it is to forget that...thanks John for that simple tune to remind us once in awhile of what's really important!    

It will always be Great America...

The last two years we have taken Mallory to Great America with Tony's family...Aunt Kerry, Uncle Ron, Auntie Janet, and cousins Cara, Nina, Nickey, Maggie and Ben.  Last year we were pretty limited with what we could take her on as she wasn't even one yet.  This year however, we were able to take her on all the kids rides and then some.  She had a blast and kept saying "more" after each ride ended!  Mallory, at the tender age of one (almost 2) can barely even say Great America, yet she is already aware of what a fun place it can be and we as parents were delighted in watching the joy on her face as she rode each ride.  We both have so many wonderful memories growing up going to Great America.  Back then it was Marriots Great America and we fondly dropped The Marriots and always called it simply... Great America.  As a child we would take one big trip there every year and then as a teenager we got season passes and went all summer long with our friends.  I even worked there for awhile as a teenager.  These days it's owned by Six Flags and I'm told all the kids of this generation call it Six Flags.  Not sure what it will be called as Mallory and Jillian grow up but to me it will always be Great America and it will always be a fun place to go and be a kid again for awhile as we now experience it through the eyes of our own children!