As a mom to three kids under the age of 7 it has pained me to see my kids wan to go on a walk but having to deter them due to a lack of sidewalks in our neighborhood. I know many moms who will not let their kids walk to school due to feeling like it's dangerous. Cars, rather, other parents, drive far too fast making the streets un-safe.
I have been reading a lot of articles lately encouraging parents to slow down and un-plug. I'm a big fan of Hands Free Mama. She encourages others to put their phones down and stop saying hurry up and also to stop over-scheduling their kids.
The problem I have found, being an under-scheduler, in an over-scheduled society, is that my kids don't have any other neighbor kids to play with.
That's not to say we don't set up playdates, we do. If you are a parent then you know the easiest way to play is just to step outside with your kids and find other parents and their kids roaming around.
Here is what happens when another parent or nanny and their kids comes over. I begin talking to that adult and the kids fall into, just being kids.
I stop having to entertain them constantly and they are able to breathe a sigh of relief as I am happier and so are they. Community is essential to happiness.
Without a safe environment to walk outside with your kids we are breaking down our communities.
I live in a place where people move due to the high marking of the public school system. Yet, there are barely ever kids in the streets playing. It's so upsetting to me.
I see bicycles and kids toys in their quarantined driveways and un-used tennis courts. A lack of a public space and sidewalks makes it hard for us to venture out and meet fellow neighbor kids.
So I don't really know my new neighbors and I've lived here for almost 2 years.
As adults we need to be the voice for making our neighborhoods more safe for walking and riding our bikes. It would help fight obesity, depression and isolation.
I am going to look into setting up a Playing Out Date.
I also am having another meeting at my home next month for concerned parents around my community who want to make it safer to walk and ride bikes.
You can put up signs that you can purchase from Keep Kids Alive Drive 25. I just ordered 9 of them! Not for my own yard, don't worry.
Deaths due to car crashes are killing far too many of us old and young. We need to make a huge change so we can get outside, play and commune with one another.