Biking Mama

Today's post is about an urban nature mama feeling great to be back on her bike. We have had a trailer since it was handed on to us when the boys were just a few months old. However, at that time none of us were ready to ride. Even as they were one and a half the trailer riding wasn't so fun for the boys, however, this summer the boys are two and a half years old. They are able to look out the window of the bike trailer and see the world and they actually enjoy riding.

Although I often write about the marvels of being slow, on occasion, the fact is that I just would like to pick up one thing at the market and I would really like it for dinner. A walk to the-mile away market-takes at least an hour, but on bike with the boys in tow I did a round trip under 30 minutes.

Plus bikes are just wonderful. The boys love all their bikes. They have a scooter, and a push trike and now they ride in the trailer. Each brings a smile and they even enjoy wearing their helmets.

I haven't taken the boys far- truthfully I only have taken them to locations about a mile away. But even a mile in Seattle is not an easy ride. Once I am out of the driveway I am committed. I either start going up or start going down meaning that I will have to go back up.

The best thing about having the bike out is that now I use it just for me, as well. Biking has been the way I have gotten around since I was a teenager. It gives me freedom from the automobile. The great thing about biking in the city is, that planned carefully, you can even mix its use with public transit if you get overly tired or you just want to avoid dangerous busy streets or too giant of hills.

Last night sans trailer I rode to a rally for education that was in solidarity with a march that took place in Washington DC. From beginning to end of my excursion it felt great to be on bike. I was able to take lightrail part of the way and then ride in the mostly car free downtown streets of Seattle (the roads were all blocked to set up for the Torchlight parade). As we left our rallying point and broke off in small groups I was able to walk my bike along the parade route handing out flyers to families with children. As much as I love my city it breaks my heart that our state of Washington is 48 in the nation in terms of class size and 49th in the nation on spending for education. Being out in the streets last night, connecting with families, made me feel like maybe we can turn things around. I hope so.

House for a Slug

"I love to hike," said cousin Zeno. "I really like going hiking by my grandma's house." His words were music to my ears and so I took our visiting cousin, his mom and our two boys to the nearby Seward Park and went on the inner trails. The in-the-woods trails that I love so dearly, but can feel a little isolating when it is just me and the boys.

A giant tree tunnel of a path.

Theo ran down the trail like he had just been set free, a bolting deer child running for the pure joy of it.

Zeno found sticks.

Sam found lots of leaves and measured his hands on the thimbleberry plant, which I had had the boys touch. It is soft and can be used for toilet paper in a pinch.

Finally, just about back to the car the boys found a slug. "Gooey" said Sam.
"Looking for a shell?" wondered Zeno. "Let's make it a house." And so the boys put sticks around it, put in a little stick - "a tv" said Zeno "and here is its couch."

Today, I wrote a letter to someone at the Parks Department who is in charge of developing new play areas. She once held a community meeting for input on a new park in our neighborhood. I have followed up with her on occasion to find out what is happening. Here is part of my latest letter to her:

......

I also wanted to just send some notes about great ways we enjoy the parks and what structures seem to get the most play.

This weekend my family had an opportunity to leave our neighborhood and visit two incredible parks: Magnuson Park in Sandpoint and Volunteer Park in the Central District. At Magnuson we heard music in the ampitheater and loved exploring the outdoor gardens and the children's garden as well as the traditional playstructure areas. At Volunteer Park the kids played on the traditional play area as well as the wading pool and picnicked under beautiful old trees. Wow. These are gems of parks.

Here are my observations of what made these parks magical.

What made these parks spectacular was the amount of open space, quiet skies and freedom from vehicular traffic.

Natural play areas for exploration!

Trees. Please incorporate them into planning play areas. Shade makes it so much easier for families to hang out without lathering on sunscreen.

Slides that go....Also noted slides that go all the way to the ground or very low off the ground seem much safer. The kids loved the natural playscape step slide at Volunteer park.

Swings, both the chair and harness type, for infants and children with special needs.

Natural climbing places: low walls, log balance beams, sculptures that are fun to climb over and under such as at Volunteer Park

Pagodas, that offer shade, seating (benches), and places for imaginary play.

Imaginary play places such as the bus station at Magnuson.

Sand play areas with natural features rocks, trees.

Picnic tables /grassy sitting areas near the play areas.

...........

Learning Directions

The other day my husband returned from an errand and told me that Theo knows exactly how to walk from our house to the bakery three blocks away. We had needed a loaf of bread and while Sam stayed at home with me. Theo led the way. Dad followed. They both came home happily swinging a fresh loaf of rye and filled with tales of community.

As the boys and I spend our days, we usually have destinations and journeys. They blend into one another. Just as Theo and his dad went to get bread, the walk was just as important as the food. Likewise when I say "lets go to music class." The boys know that therefore we will be walking to the train, riding the train, attending class, and then meandering to lunch by way of the Cesar Chavez Learning Garden, train, walk, and possibly past a park. Each part of the journey is our adventure and although we may learn a new song from music class that is far from our only new knowledge. We may also learn why some big old trees were cut down along the edge of our park and we may watch new football posts be erected as we did yesterday.

In Louv's book The Nature Principle one chapter begins with the quote "You can't know who you are until you know where you are." by Wendell Berry.

From a young age I remember hearing the old adage, "it is not the destination, but the journey" that is important. Yet so often as we rush from one place to another we are inherently saying it is the destination that is important. In my heart I have always felt knowing the route from one place to another is important as well. For that reason when I was in college and beginning a semester study in Mexico I decided to take the bus from Minnesota to the program's starting place in Tuscon, AZ. It may be for that reason the program actually had us find our own way- in small groups- from Tuscon, AZ to Mexico City. This travel by bus, by train, and for some by hitchhiking, was a way for us all to get a chance to truly see the diversity of land and lifestyles. This trip was when I felt like I started to really come into my own being. I developed confidence and a lifelong love of traveling by land.

Going by land seeing the people and sights along the way makes you feel connected.
By walking I hope that my boys truly understand their community and themselves and that they are thoughtful as they choose their journeys and destinations.

Wonders of City Life

On occasion it is easy to think that country life would be so much better for children growing up, but I can't help thinking that one if we lived in the country the boys would drive in cars for almost every activity unless we lived in a very special area that worked for family biking. Hence, in the city our car sits for weeks at a time. Errands and outings are run talking and walking with neighbors. Yesterday was a classic example. We packed our stroller with a picnic lunch and headed to the "tunnel slide park" a mile away from our home.

At the park we ran into two different families with twins, one age 19 months and the other 4 years old. We ran into another mother and her son who we met when we applied for the cooperative. They did get in, off the waiting list, so this mom is always very encouraging. In talking with her I found out that we have a lot in common. The mother ha a teacher and a principal now raising her child full time just as I am: a new connection, a colleague, a new friend.

After the park the boys and I walked another couple of blocks for milk and as the boys sat outside eating their free piece of fruit we ran into a neighbor and his children. We often walk past one another, but on this occasion his daughter was also wanting to sit down for a snack and we conversed and found common ground. Most exciting to me is that I found out that his family has gone to the Family Camps at the Olympic Park Institute and he said they are fabulous! I have been thinking about attending with the boys, but he recommended that it might be best when the boys are three and can do some of their own activities. We would have walked home together, but as Theo reminded me we needed to pick up dad's shirts from the cleaners. It's amazing that a two year old can remember such details!

Finally we made the rest of the walk home, slowly...errands done, friendships made, and plenty of fresh air and exercise for all.

Crossing logs

We took a trip to the source of the Marin County Watershed on a recent trip to California. It was a beautiful and peaceful place a short hike from a lake filled with dragonflies, newts, and other weekend explorers.

In this picture the boys found a few logs across a shallow body of water to cross over, back and forth. They enjoyed the challenge and the accomplishment and it was one of the activities that I deemed safe. Ironically this peaceful location caused me a lot of stress as there was quite a lot of poison oak around. How was I to let the boys love the wildness when I kept saying "not there?"

These logs were one contained area that I felt the boys were safe. I realize that in Seattle we are quite lucky that most of the places we go are free of plant dangers, even nettles only sting for a short while. Working with toddlers it is on the parents to make sure the environment is safe. As kids get a bit older they can learn to read the plant life for themselves. Stories are a wonderful way to teach about plants. For example nettles come in two pairs of leaves, with serrated edges-jaws to bite, and leaves in a teardrop shape because they may sting and bring tears to your eyes. Of course, nettles too can be eaten, as long as you crush the spines properly. A complimentary plant to know is the sword fern whose spores have been known to soothe the pain of nettles as well as banana slugs' slime which will numb it.

Reflections on the Long Weekend and Parenting in General

Being a parent makes you slow down. You really can’t get to even a quarter of the things you might think are important, but you can live in “child time.” Child time is slow. It means on a walk home from the market you may watch your children sit under a tree for ten minutes eating pears, then skip fast downhill for a block trying to keep up with your toddlers’ amazing agility, and then slowly stopping and going for the next 20 minutes down that final block before getting home. Child time is a gift that kids give their parents and parents can either choose to fight it or relish it.

My husband and I have decided that these precious years with our young ones we are going to focus on what is most important to us: The boys growing up. The boys exploring their world. The boys getting to know our close friends, family, and community. This means we skip any unnecessary trips to the mall (actually almost all trips that involve driving), choose carefully among the community meetings we wish to attend, and focus our volunteering and personal studies. We prioritize: eating, playing, sleeping, singing, laughing, socializing, being outdoors and supporting community

This past Fourth of July Weekend fit our agenda perfectly:
Friday: was cooking and eating outside with a friend and then attending our neighborhood Beatwalk, which is seeing music at various venues in the community and supporting local businesses
Saturday was for helping friends and then being treated to wonderful home cooked Ethiopian food and amazing joy
Sunday was for lounging, “flying bikes”, and camping out in the back yard
Monday was for continuing to camp by watching the sun rise and then set again: eating meals outside, drinking morning coffee listening to the birds and reading books with Sam as brother and dad continued to sleep in the tent and then splashing, laughing, jumping around and in and out of the wading pool during the last rays of the day.

Our families’ path, our families’ joys, and travails are rooted in our values, our time in history and region. This blog is for my children to know where they came from: what beliefs informed their upbringing. It is also is for me to reflect on my parenting and the path our family is following. Perhaps it will inspire others to try something new- just as we are inspired by all those around us. Our path is riddled with mistakes, but mistakes are where learning comes from. Our path is filled with moments that make a life. For our family no journey can be as grand as watching your youngsters grow. Our goal is to make life’s passages as healthy and inspiring as possible while dancing in an urban nature landscape.

Carrying Water

Most parts of the world people need to carry water. We are blessed to have water running into our home. On hot days it is easy to want to fill the kiddy pool or play with the hose for hours on end. However, in trying to figure out other ways, more conservation oriented ways, to cool off and have fun I decided to give the boys each a pan and a measuring cup. The first challenge was to carry the pan of water to our bench 25 ft away from the house. A slosh here and a slosh there: refreshing.

The boys then had a lot of fun adding items to their bowls- green plums and sticks. Then, they started to carry their measuring cups around the bench and over by mother as though they were delivering tea. So much fun. I can imagine changing this activity to be more of a challenge - carrying water from one pot to the other in a measuring cup, races, ....but luckily the boys don't need mom inventing things fro them rather they continue to make their own discoveries- so much wiser than me.

Urban camping

While many people venture out of town over the Fourth of July we stayed around to spend time with friends and to practice and prepare for camping. We inherited a tent from some friends and I have learned it is always s good idea to practice setting up any tent- as well as inspect it for all pieces and possibly re- waterproof.
Also, camping with kids for the first time requires some time for free exploration by the kids. Yesterday the boys spent quite a lot of time going in and out if the tent, zipping and unzipping the tent, playing "tunnel" in the sleeping bags and blankets.
Finally, by dark ( which is a bit late for two year olds) the boys were ready to sleep despite the loud city noises of firecrackers and were those gunshots? Sirens and neighbors voices.
The boys slept well even though I learned that the city doesn't get quiet by night but rather the everyday roar turns into a few distinct loud sounds: motorcycles revving, trains roaring, and airplanes ( huge and low) taking off.