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Only cats get to go outside
We’ve had quite a few discussions at our house about nature this week, largely due to the occurrence of Earth Day. We explain, we plant, and the kids enjoy being outside after a long and cold winter. We accept the mud that gets tracked into the carpet as a bonus when my daughter decides to roller skate from the backyard into the house, and back again. Mud is part of mother earth too, after all.
“Do you think aliens celebrate Mars-day?” My daughter asks, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of that, so I answer that they probably do. My daughter is convinced there are aliens out there somewhere, and ponders how far away they are, and whether their planet looks just like ours. I think she knows by now there is no actual life on Mars or Venus, but she has also learned that space is pretty much infinite, so one never knows. Maybe she’s imagining some kind of twin planet, millions of light years away, with a girl just like her mirroring her every action.
A few days after actual Earth Day, I take my son outside to plant some seeds. It’s been raining a lot, little sprouts are starting to grow, and it’s the perfect time to start our wild flower garden. He enthusiastically helps me pour the seeds, and then wanders off. A few seconds later I look up; my son is standing at the other end of the garden with his pants down his ankles.
“What are you doing?” I ask, already sort of dreading the answer.
“I am going potty outside”, he announces.
“Only the cats can go potty outside. Boys need to go inside,” I tell him, and he pulls his pants back up. Thank god the neighbors aren’t home.
I tell him to go to the bathroom, but suddenly he doesn’t have to go. Apparently this latest escapade wasn’t born of necessity, but curiosity. I wonder, where does he learn this stuff? I know he doesn’t get it at school, and he certainly hasn’t seen us do it. I guess some things just pop into his head, for no apparent reason at all. Getting back to nature, indeed.
“If you want to have naked time, you need to do it inside,” I tell him, and he looks at me as if I’m the biggest idiot he’s ever met. When our daughter was about three years old, she had “naked time” on a daily basis. She’d disappear into her room for about an hour and enjoyed having absolutely nothing on. We always thought that was fine; I can imagine how nice it must be to be relieved of all the buttons and zippers and elastic waistbands, especially when you are very small and you can still get away with that kind of behavior.
My son, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have the same inclination. To him, suggesting he take his clothes off is an insult. He loves his clothes, and getting dressed is the most important act of the day. At least, it has been so far. Maybe things are about to change, and Wall-E hoodies and Buzz Light-year shirts are no longer the highest good. Maybe the coolest thing this year will be peeing in the garden when mommy isn’t looking. If that is the case, at least my flowers won't dry out.
For more info about getting your kids outside, with or without potty issues, check out Family Entertainment, Suite 101, or Spring Fever
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