For the month of June our family has been living in the city of Montréal. Quite the change for our country family.
Instead of mountain rivers there's splash parks. Instead of hiking trails, metro stops. Not quite, but you get the idea. It's a totally different scene here.
There's been a definite shift in our routine, since being in the city, in order to satisfy the kids' need for activity and adventure. Most notably, I'm taking the kids on a lot of outings. At home we don't go out a whole lot. We're mostly homebodies. When the kids are antsy we boot them out the door for a couple hours and try to exhaust them with long weekly hikes (the older they get the harder it is to exhaust them).
Back at home, the woods, the river, and the meadow are at our disposal. At our new home there is even a ski hill for this winter. In the city there isn't that same unsupervised outdoors freedom. I know from living in urban Maine, and this month in Montréal, I can't just boot them out the door and say "see ya in a couple hours".
I'm coming to see the importance of organized sports and physical activities for children, especially in urban environments. Our family hasn't participated in any organized sports, 4H or Scouts. There's no need. We do stuff together as a family, there's lot of physical activity in the day and we regularly challenge our kids (physically and mentally) with hiking, backpacking and winter skiing. They learn to work in a team, it's called a family, and they spend lots of time outdoors.
But I'm realizing this isn't the reality for many children. Most children? The freedom to play by mountain rivers, study pond life by just walking out your door and learn to ski in your backyard is a blessing that I don't want to take for granted.
I'm not going to suggest one is better than the other. I think it really depends on your family mission, values and goals. And certainly, many "country" folk enjoy organized sports. Our preference is to choose family activities over individual activities.
I'm so glad we've had this city experience. There are many things we will miss (the pool!) when we return back home in a couple weeks. But I am looking forward again to the day I can say "go play in the woods" and be referring to our backyard.
Comments
I love how you have expressed
I love how you have expressed this! We are in a city (small, US city, but downtown nonetheless) right now due to school/work for my hubby for the next few years. Our backyard is about 10 feet by 12 feet and is a rarity in our neighborhood! We love being able to walk to the library, drive 5 minutes to the zoo, and generally be close to everything, but it is lots of "going" rather than "staying" to the dismay of the home-loving, introverted mother. While our ultimate goal is to be some place we can allow the kids freedom to roam, our now has us here. And we will find beauty and activity here.
Thanks Jennifer for sharing
Thanks Jennifer for sharing here. There have been so many different stages in our lives, in terms of housing and space available for the kids. When our kids were preschoolers we had less than a postage stamp sized yard and no fence. So we went walking lots to the local park and set up a kiddo pool for summer on the driveway. Our next house in Maine had a bigger yard but it was a fairly urban location and I wouldn't let the kids play outside alone, which is when I really got into gardening - something to do when the kids were outdoors! Now they are older and we live "in the country" so they are pretty much free range. It's been a progression.
You've hit on something here.
You've hit on something here. I haven't put my kids in organized sports for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that it would infringe on our family time and our time hiking and getting into nature. We have several friends we'd like to go on outings with, but they usually can't because of some sport or practice. We do a lot of outings in the city, but we also get out into nature as much as we can. I can send the kids into our lovely back yard that is next to the green belt, but they can't go wandering through the neighborhood where homeless men wander around and unsavory characters live a few blocks away. I often feel safer out in the wilderness with them than I do in urban parks! My son really notices a difference in the quality of nature around us, too, and has lost interest in the playgrounds at the age of 10.
Those river photos look fabulous, by the way, so many rocks to climb on and nooks and crannies to explore.
Renee,
Renee,
I stumbled upon FIMBY years ago, a few times, but had lost track of it, lo these past few years. I tripped over you again, thanks to Meg at Sew Liberated, and have been poring over this and that, both here and there. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time and energy you put into your posts, your children, your days, and your life. There is much here that speaks to me, but right now, it is your careful, intentional approach to choosing family as the focus of group activities -- not always supported in our world, at the moment, odd though it may be for a society focused on "family values" -- and your articulation of how you get out and about with three kiddos.
I will be catching up and poring through archives for weeks and months to come.
Cheers,
Molly
p.s.: We spent a week in Montreal, this past March. As lovely an urban environment as a person could find, I think.
Thanks Molly for saying hi
Thanks Molly for saying hi and welcome back.
I grew up in an environment
I grew up in an environment that was close to the city but had all the comfort and laidbackness of a small town. There were lots of greenery, forestry and places to play. We were pretty much left to play out if we wanted because everyone in the community knew and looked out for each other. It's not something I see a lot of today. You're very fortunate to live where you do with your family. Even as an adult, I'd love to live somewhere similar to where you do.