Enjoying Summer Playtime

Our doorbell rang and it was a group of kids from the block asking if Katelyn and Vanessa can join them outside to play. YES, of course they can! The girls joined the group, a group of all boys by the way, outside for a game of tag and a few rounds of hide-n-seek. They were so tired by the evening, after the constant running and laughing all afternoon long.

You see, this was is a big deal for me. Our street is made up of all boys, ranging in age from 5 to 12. Actually, there are two families with girls just around my girls’ ages and a few years older, but they never come outside to play. I’m not sure what’s up with that – maybe it’s the personality of the family, perhaps their kid’s just don’t like hind-n-seek as much as mine do.

So the boys on our block play like…well, um, boys. And it’s usually very different than how girls play. However, we’ve been spending a lot of time outside this summer and the boys have gotten to know Katelyn and Vanessa better and know that these girls enjoying digging for worms as much as they do.

Bill and I recently cut down the 50 foot tree in our front yard. We did not want to remove the tree, but it has been causing sidewalk damage, plus it sits, rather, sat, atop of the main water and sewer lines to our home. Therefore, since we’ve had problems inside our home in these areas previously, we are guessing the tree roots are invading the pipes. We talked to several arborists and each one said that as soon as we trim the roots enabling us to repair the sidewalk, the tree will die from a form of root rot and shock which this tree is prone too. We were really left with no option. We applied for a permit to remove the tree, along with a permit to repair the sidewalk. As homeowners, you are responsible for all maintenance starting at the street, including city trees and city sidewalk. And of course, you cannot just fix these things on your own…you have to apply for a permit, do all work to city specs and then have all work approved upon completion. It’s rather a cumbersome process, for which you are paying entirely out of your pocket for.

While we were outside cutting down the tree, we had everyone on our block out watching, encouraging and gasping as we cut the tree down. By the late afternoon, all of the kids ended up in our front yard playing in a small portable pool we had set up on the front lawn. The older boys took charge and made sure no one got hurt and that everyone had a turn. They watched out for Vanessa, the littlest of the group, making sure she felt included. I was a little nervous about how the group of young boys was going to play with two small girls. But they, especially the older ones, were amazing…almost as if each of the families that these boys belong to have younger sister siblings to watch out for. None of them do – they each come from families of all boys. It was as if they’ve adopted Katelyn and Vanessa as their younger sisters and they are playing the older protective brother role. I grew up on a block with at least 25 children around the same age, so watching my own children play a game of tag outside brings back such warm wonderful memories, the kind that you always hope your own children would get to experience.