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!
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!
2 comments:
Every leaf in our new town landed in my yard. We have approximately a hundred billion leaves. Rather than rake into piles, we're working on a leaf city of paths around the backyard and side yard. Once there are enough paths, we are able to play leaf city tag, zipping around the paths to safety. It's not nearly as tedious to rake curving paths as it is to rake huge squares, and eventually the yard will be clear (I hope!). Fall was much more fun as a leaf-jumper than it is as a leaf-raker. --Abbey--
Build scare crows. Build a whole army. Arm them with rakes and sit back and wait for the leaves to be cleaned up. Perhaps the neighbors will appreciate your attempt at humor, tee hee...
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