Trapped

Born and raised in Seattle, I'm ashamed to admit that as much as I love the rain and as much as I know the Bay area needs it right now, I think I've had enough. It hasn't even been that long . . . but long enough for a mother of two very active boys to wonder how she can survive too many more days of being stuck inside with them. Now don't get me wrong, there are things about the rain that I still genuinely adore: I love listening to it, love watching it fall, love smelling the air just before and just after it, but I do not love feeling trapped inside my house (unless of course I'm all alone with a good book; in which case, rain away).

The near constant downpour of the past three or four days has made me realize how much of my daily life, even in the winter, revolves around the outdoors and decent weather. A lot of that has to do with having kids who need to exert a lot of energy, energy that I don't have to see or hear as much of when it happens outdoors. They have their friends to play with and I have my friends to talk to, so we're both mutually distracted from the noise, conflict, and boredom that are nearly impossible to escape indoors.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Stop whining and take your kids to the mall!" "Go to the library already!" All viable options and things that we do on occasion, but still not the same as those built-in, weekly activities that you don't have to plan or arrange for, that just happen because you--and some of which your friends--always do them. Walking Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Tuesday park day; Thursday afternoon at the park; play dates in the backyard; taking the boys on their scooters to the produce stand; riding bikes; and so on. More options exist when the sky is clear and the ground is relatively dry.