Welcome to the United States of Indoors

I guess because my daughter isn’t quite school-age yet and from the observations I’ve made the days we go outside to walk through our neighborhood, we really don’t see kids playing outside anymore after school. I hope I’m wrong about that as I am only seeing my side of the loop, but the only times I really see children playing (aside from Caeli) are if our across-the-street neighbors bring their two angels out to play with her in the mud puddles after a rain or when they want to play basketball. 

So, what happened?

We evolved into the Unites States of Indoors. You read that correctly.

Is this what subdivision life is all about, moms and dads spending all day away from home working to pay a mortgage for homes that mostly lie dormant while the kids are at school or daycare learning and when the munchkins come home, they either are shuttled from one extracurricular activity to the next or hamstrung to the privacy fence lined backyard? What happens when they get home and have nothing to do?

I think I know what happened:  Because we parents hear about the kidnappings on the news and social media, we become mama and daddy bears and overprotect our cubs. Combine that with the influence modern technology has on our lives and we see that our children live in the United States of Indoors:  safe from danger yet innocuous to a world that demands problem-solving skills and teamwork. Because my daughter is an only child, Caeli still has to learn how to play with her own peers because the day will come when she will show her own independence away from daddy and mommy carrying or holding her hand. Hopefully that’s no time soon; I personally treasure every second I can have with my baby bear and she makes me feel like a superhero. I guess we can chalk that one up to genetics:  With the 6’ in height I am blessed with, I guess that seems like a giant to her significantly smaller frame.

Whose fault is this? I’ll lie on the grenade and take the blame for my child, but she’s 2.

What about the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, many of which I rarely see except at the bus stop?

I suppose that our electronic toys are intended to distract us from the larger problems this world presents, but what happens when those conflicts enter our children’s television shows and games or safe spaces where kids can be themselves?

I took my daughter to therapy a few weeks ago. Normally I would sit in the lobby and catch up on reading emails or edit blog postings as I am so averse to doing these days, but this particular day was strange for the simple reason I had to leave for a quick trip to the Wal-Mart across the interstate to replace a tire on my wife’s car. What made it so strange is the preteen boy (I’d assume he is ten years of age) walking around the lobby preaching right-wing talking points with no regard of the parents or other children surrounding him. Of course, living in this part of the state, I expect Info Wars or Fox News to receive serious airplay except for one thing:  The child was quoting Alex Jones line-by-line from his iPod pacing frantically! Certainly my politics (I am centrist in nature except when it concerns education and black civil rights/history, and then you’ll get my full opinions with evidence supporting my arguments) do not agree with any of the hatred he was spitting out that day; it also makes me wonder what kind of worldview his parents have instilled in him and how much of that is their own blind blatant bigotry. Once I picked up mini-me, the idea that our children are cooped up indoors all day long and pacified with electronic toys as entertainment began to percolate and it honestly bothered me. I know I’m guilty of turning on Netflix or popping in one of the Nick Jr. DVDs we have purchased to keep Caeli occupied as I do in-house errands, but there are times when both of us are indoors instead of enjoying the sunlight and playing in the yard or swinging and sliding at the city parks.

Remember me saying I am a curator of Caeli’s memories? That includes going outside to play whether or not a jungle gym has been built in the backyard.

Of course, the benefits of children playing outdoors outweigh the disadvantages. For one, they learn the intricacies of drinking water from the garden hose. No child should be so sheltered that when the time comes to screw off the nozzle to gulp what amounts to a sip of water she finds herself banging on the back door for a bottle of Dasani! If the water supply is legit, then kids get to learn that vital life skill; otherwise, they adapt to whatever bottled water (see:  Flint, Mound Bayou, etc.) is available during playtime. A second advantage in playing outside is the inevitable suntan (in Springhill Manor) - out in Friendship, we just got blacker. The last sentence underscores a difference in growing up in a predominantly black neighborhood versus raising a child in a significantly whiter subdivision as do some of the differences in my childhood versus what I am able to afford for Caeli today. We’re not wealthy by any means and that book deal for Dad Chronicles hasn’t happened, so you sacrifice a bit so your progeny can have a better head start to life or at the very least, a perceived easier time through childhood.  If you got tired, you found a tree to rest underneath – your ass still wasn’t coming inside regardless of the temperature in fear of the rising light bill and overworked air conditioner. The final advantage of having children play outside is they get an appreciation of the environment:  birds, flies, pets, and of course, making friends beyond the children they live next door to or across the street from. Up to a certain age, it is obviously best to supervise their own play yet keeping them indoors all of the time stifles untapped creativity not limited to made up games, imaginary friends, and the very real idea of the boogeyman underneath the bed who wants to eat them.

Being #DGProper on a rainy day in Helena for the #freemanplayground opening with #CaeliStrong pic.twitter.com/j7z01bJc1z

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) May 16, 2017

We all want the best for our children and sometimes we become overprotective mama and daddy bears; consequently, keeping them indoors all of the time stunts their growth like vegetables that spend the entire season next to the kitchen windowsill instead of spreading out in the garden and being exposed to sunlight, rain, and strong winds.