Green Hour

Well, we made it through today without as many meltdowns as yesterday (the mama included). Library storytime went smoothly. We swam mid-day...that seems to make the biggest difference in the kids and their behaviour. By 2:15, they were tired so we all sat down to watch some TV and have some popcorn for snack. I fell asleep in the recliner beside them and felt like a much better person when I got up again.

I was looking through a local parenting magazine this afternoon and came across this website. It's called "Green Hour" and is run by the National Wildlife Federation. Basically, it states that the NWF recognizes there is a "nature deficit" among our children. This deficit is due to watching too much TV, playing too many video games, etc. Did you know the average American child watches *6* hours of TV each day? 44 hours each week. Sickening. Not only are children being raised to be uncomfortable in nature, they have an extreme amount of health problems that are typically only found in adults (obeseity, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, etc) and are directly related to said sedentary lifestyle. NWF recommends giving children a "Green Hour" every day. 60 minutes of unstructured play in their own backyard counts as a Green Hour as does walking through your neighborhood or going to a park. Read the "about" section and the "Discovery Journal & Ideas". There are some fun ideas here!

Hmmm...and wasn't I just saying how we watched 2 hours of TV today?! Oh well...we're below the national average! I read for an hour, we went to storytime at the library AND we swam in the pool for an hour. I think the kids are pretty well rounded. (Oh and I forgot to mention those 2 dog walks they are forced to go on with me everyday!)

We had some rain tonight. BIG, LOUD thunderstorms rolled through here during our dinnertime. I'm hoping the temperatures will be a bit cooler tomorrow because when we were out to walk the dog at 4:30 today, it felt as if we were inside an oven. I'm about ready for fall to get here.

No new pictures today. Probably not much of a chance for any tomorrow as we are driving out to VA Beach to see one of my friends for a bit...well...maybe while all of the kids play I can snap one or two. We'll see how it goes.

I'm currently reading "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer. He was part of an expedition to climb Mount Everest that went horribly wrong in 1996 and this is his account of what happened. He was on assignment for "Outside Magazine" at the time. I have a book about Iceland that he did as well. The photographs in it are just breathtaking.