Friday 27 April 2012

This week: rain


Here we go with my first 'This week' post I mentioned previously.... For this first one I'm going to be thoroughly British and talk about the weather!

After the Easter holidays we decided my son would no longer go in his buggy to nursery but would ride his scooter instead. Unfortunately, this change in transportation coincided with the arrival of neverending April showers.

Scooter rides in the rain are not ideal so the first day we faced this problem, I told my son we'd get his wellies and raincoat on and he could walk with an umbrella. I was a little nervous about the journey - whether it would be too tiring a walk for my son (it's a good 20 min walk), whether he'd be miserable in the rain, and I was definitely expecting moaning and groaning about some aspect of it. To my pleasant surprise he did amazingly, walking with a smile, enjoying holding the umbrella all by himself and not one complaint. Our pace was considerably slower than usual of course but I knew it would be and was in a strange way enjoying our gentle amble in the rain (being suitably dressed for the weather of course).

We did several days like this and each time went great. I was really proud of my son being such a trooper and for having a positive attitude to the miserable weather. Part of me felt like a bad mum making my sweet little boy trapse along in the rain while others probably just zip off in the car to keep dry but we don't have a car so what else can I do?!

A friend remarked that she had memories of having to walk to school in the rain as a child and hated it. She thinks my son will be 'traumatised' my these walks in the rain. I like to think however, that there's also an element of building resilience and I don't think we should make life too easy or too comfortable all the time (for ourselves or our children).

During week two of being back to nursery and dealing with our rainy journeys we encountered our most challenging walk in the rain. There was a very heavy downpour, complete with hail, thunder and lightening. There was moaning, crying and screaming from my son and it was miserable. I tried to stay upbeat and was singing, 'I hear thunder' (the line about being wet through was very accurate!) but he was not amused.

There was rain again the next day but my son was back to being his usual cheerful self and didn't complain about going out in it again. A walk in the rain is not exactly fun when you are doing it every day but it doesn't do any harm. Afterwards there is a certain pleasure in being back inside, warming up and drying off. I'm ready for the rainy weather to be over but until it is we'll keep plodding along in the rain to and from nursery....

What is your child like in the rain? Do you try to avoid being out in it at all costs or do you dress for it and get out there nevertheless?
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photo credit

5 comments:

  1. Unless it's summer rain and they could get wet without getting cold, we always tried to avoid being out there in bad weather. But it's the American way: in the car for everything. I think your attitude is right. This is your life and you're teaching your son to deal with it with a good attitude. Well done!

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    1. Thank you and I'm glad to hear you think my son is learning to deal with it with a good attitude :-).

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  3. I don't think your son will be traumantised at all! Is your friend female? We women tend to not be as fond of getting wet, even at a young age from what I gather from friends with children.

    Bzoid LOVES nothing more than a splash through the puddles. In fact we get an excited "ooh! It's waining!!" and she's more than happy to go trudging to the shop in it. We use the car a lot because we have to, but as long as she's got wellies on (!) I'm happy for her to splash around, Peppa pig style :)x

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  4. Yes, my friend is female and maybe you're right about women and the rain :-). Glad to hear your daughter enjoys the rain and puddle splashing fun!

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