The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming.
Spring is a wonderful time of the year. I am sitting at my desk trying to focus on my work but I keep staring out the window and thinking that I'd sure like to be outside enjoying this beautiful weather.
Somehow, it's harder to concentrate on work on a gorgeous spring day than any other season. It's because we see it as the start of a wonderful number of months and can hardly wait to put away our heavy coats and woolen clothing. We have spring fever.
If you speak to your friends or colleagues you will likely all agree that paying strict attention to your work is a challenge when spring arrives. Most of us can admit that we have sneaked away for a baseball game, a round of golf or at least a long lunch on a nearby patio.
So, why are we surprised when our children share the same experience? They are restless, unfocussed and daydreaming and we think they are misbehaving. But they aren't. Just like us, they are responding to the warm weather and longer days.
When I was a child I recall that my big challenge was going to bed when it was still light outside. So, my mother would recite the poem "Bed in Summer" by Robert Louis Stevenson about a child who hates to go to bed when it is still light outside. The poem let me know that she understood my feelings. Mind you, I still had to go to bed.
For children who really have a problem with the light, consider darker curtains. Older kids may be willing to wear an eyeshade.
The point is that your child is not trying to drive you crazy by wanting to stay up late; she is simply reacting to the later sunsets.
Spring and daydreaming go together. Even kids who are usually very down-to-earth and focused start daydreaming in the spring. Spring is another kind of New Year. In nature, spring sees new growth as the flowers, cherry blossoms and grass sprout for yet another year.
For us, spring feels like the start of new ideas, it brings new energy and the idea of new possibilities. When our kids feel this way it looks like daydreaming.
Daydreaming is not all bad. A wise parent knows that creativity of thought can evolve. Remember lying on the grass looking at the clouds and discussing the shapes? Instead of discouraging your children, join them. We do a lot of talking about how children watch too much TV and don't engage in creative play. Well, use this daydreaming time of year to teach your children how to let their minds roam and wander. It won't hurt us adults either.
Besides looking at the clouds, get the kids outside to play. There are baby ducks to see at the local pond, birds' nests up in the trees and all manner of buds coming up from the now-thawed ground. Even kids who seem to be permanently attached to technology have a desire to get outside. Take advantage of this and go for a walk, head to the park or find an appropriate hiking or biking trail. It could become a habit.
Of course life must go on and children, like adults, can't use the onset of spring as a chance to avoid homework, piano practice and chores. But, when you acknowledge your child's spring fever, when you make room for her need to daydream, to be outside, to play, then your child will be much more willing and able to take on the regular tasks.
Kathy Lynn is a parenting expert who is a professional speaker and author of Vive la Différence, Who's In Charge Anyway? and But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have to Leave Home. Sign up for her informational newsletter at parentingtoday.ca.
