Turning Tedium into Terrific Fun

Turning Tedium into Terrific Fun

Raking and then disposing of leaves used to be one of those mind numbing, often boring, seasonal tasks for us. We wanted to get the leaves up before they blew into our neighbors’ yards, making us the scourge of the ‘hood, but had many more pressing (and enjoyable) tasks to do to get ready for encroaching winter.

However, once we had mobile grandkids, that all changed. Our learning curve on this seemed mighty slow at first. Of course they couldn’t handle the long-necked rakes! They needed much smaller, shorter ones they could actually manipulate! Best to not have wet or even damp leaves as they smell funny and are more easily tracked into the house. Try not to include tons of acorns as they can actually hurt tender young skin, particularly cheeks and noses.

Dress warmly enough but no need to wrap for mummyhood, as winter has not yet arrived. Running and jumping after raking really heat up little bodies! Earmuffs are great if it is nippy. Also, wear clothing that won’t matter if it gets scuffed up a tad.

Help foster creativity by suggesting different architectural constructions for the piles. No one said there was only one design for leaf piles! Not every batch needs to end up as a single mound, either!

Have your camera out and ready to go. Try to just keep snapping away because the fabulous moments last only split seconds.

If you want to add some pizzazz to the outing, break out a boom box, put on a rockin’ cd, and blast it. (Well, not so much that you disturb the very neighbors you are trying to placate by raking up your errant leaves!). Hot chocolate with marshmallows afloat and plain vanilla wafers put a cap on a great outing. And don’t be afraid to jump right in yourself, though you need to be aware of what your body can now tolerate as far as jumpin’ and jarrin’ go!

Tip #35: Mother Nature offers us a natural playground in the autumn every year. Be sure to use it, and to capture your seasonal frolics with your digital equipment. Feel again the sheer exuberance of unfettered childhood and whoop it up! Your grandchildren will long remember the fun they had with you!

Fall Fun and Foliage

Fall Fun and Foliage

We love this time of year because although the “leaf peepers” pass through our area on their way to our beautiful mountains, the massive influx of summer visitors diminishes, and we reclaim our roads and beaches. There is just so much to do! Because we try to be very frugal so that we may continue to travel (just back from two weeks in Alaska, thus no blogging for quite awhile!), purchase things for our grandchildren while we are traipsing around the world (and now that there are 9 of them, that can be daunting!), and still enjoy them on a daily basis, we continue to read the local paper, noting what the school and community calendars offer each weekend.

There certainly is an abundance of both leaves and pumpkins. I shall write about the whole leaves thing in a future entry, but want to focus on some of the other things we do.

Just moving around the town, either with a stroller when younger, or on foot or bikes (usually we choose a “resting/refreshing place to stop during our journey, such as the town library, which has both bike racks and bathrooms), can be so much fun. People creatively decorate for both the autumn season and the upcoming celebration of Halloween (more on that in another future entry). We love to get “up close and personal” with the various lawn decorations, and if the owners are out and about, often get permission to take pictures using these props. The kids absolutely love to put an arm around a ghost or ghoul, print the photo out and take it to school,
later adding it to their photos albums on our coffee table.

Pumpkins are just fascinating, and definitely in abundance. Our neighbor/friend whom I have mentioned several times already knit a slew of pumpkin hats and the children love wearing them and trying them on dolls and stuffed animals. Of course, pumpkin carving is a great way to spend an afternoon, and we have saved remnants of things to use as accessories. Many places offer apple picking opportunities, often combining the central task with other fun things: face painting, balloon animals, and various transports through the orchards.

The school in which I used to teach holds an annual “Harvest Festival” that includes a hay ride onto the “Fairy Tale Trail” and a spaghetti supper. Eighth graders write the script for some “fractured” tales, create settings spread out throughout the school’s nature trail and outdoor classroom, and then perform as each cartload of squealing young uns approaches. Some of the more subtle lines go right over the heads of the younger ones, but they love the costuming and the familiarity of Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Dorothy and the Scarecrow, etc., so the enactments can be relished on many different levels. Each year the selections and portrayals change, based on the choices the students make that year. One year it rained and so they set up the scenarios in classrooms, not quite the same as the hayride tour, but at least not disappointingly cancelled. Sixth graders wait table for the spaghetti supper, and seventh graders typically sell drinks and desserts. All of these are fundraising activities for these classes, so the money is going to a good cause, and is a tremendous value as far as dining and entertainment go! (I am using the word “dining” liberally here as you can see if you look closely at those pictures). Often face painting, ring toss, sticker fun, and a host of other minor activities co-exist with the supper. Each fall we eagerly anticipate attending this fun-filled evening!

I am absolutely sure that many of you reading this have wonderful other suggestions to offer, and hope you will do so by accessing the comments link at the end of each posting. If you do not wish to leave your name, just write anonymous. Be sure to pack lots of wipes/wet naps as fingers and faces get sticky (particularly if an event includes cookie-decorating!).

Grandparents form a stable, predictable base for many of these community activities, and you do not have to live in a particular town to participate. If you take the children off for an afternoon of local amusement, their parents can find the time to do things that may be difficult with children underfoot (such as remove air conditioners, rest, grocery shop, get their own hair cut, etc.) Once again the gift of time is the most valuable gift we can all offer.


Tip #34: Scour your local publications/websites to see what schools and community groups offer for fun fall activities. Give your own children the gift of a free afternoon or evening while you enjoy usually very reasonable events which will leave enduring memories (especially if you photograph them!) with your grandkids. Take the time to breathe the crisp fall air, go apple or pumpkin picking, and savor every moment with the kids, because they grow up mighty fast.