Kids should have time to go outside and play. To sit in a pile of dirt and not care how messy they get. To let their imaginations wild as they pretend they’re exploring a jungle, hiding from pirates, or discovering a new species of life. I want my kids to go outside and play.

Being Content with Reality

But the reality is they have two parents that work full time, and while the older two could go play in the backyard by themselves, they have a little brother that’s just a little too young to have no supervision in that environment.

So while I work all day, they don’t get to go outside. They get to use their imaginations indoors. This is good too, but I want them to have both.

So I’m excited that today after work we were able to go outside for a little while. We played without any tasks to get done, schedules to keep, or thought of staying clean. We explored, ran around, and got dirty.

It was a good reminder for me.

I wish they were able to run around and play outside more, but that doesn’t mean we can’t embrace the time they can do it now.

This is a season. As the youngest gets older, they’ll be able to do more without as much supervision. They’ll be able to run around back there and let their imaginations go wild.

But we aren’t there yet. And that’s okay. I need to be content with where we are and enjoy the moments like this where we’re covering ourselves with dirt.

Just like I did today.