Happy New Year, from my geek family to yours! With January upon us, my New Year’s parenting resolution is already in full swing. (This is the first year that I have had a parenting resolution.) As a Montessori-prepared adult, part of my work over the last few weeks has been creating strategies and putting supports in place to set us up for success. I’m excited to share some of these strategies with you! I hope that they will be helpful if your personal or family resolution is similar to mine, or as inspiration for strategies that will suit your own goals for 2024.
Why 365 Hours?
You may be familiar with the 1000 Hours Outside initiative, as am I. Their platform provides incredible resources to educate, encourage, and assist families in the ambition of spending 1000 hours outside in a year. I have started several of the last few years with a drive to complete this challenge, only to have that fire inside me die out amid yet another gloomy New England February. Now that I’m a mom, that fire has been rekindled. I want my daughter to grow up knowing the rich sensory experiences and deep love of our planet that can only be found through spending time in nature. I want to witness her discovery of these and rediscover them for myself!
However, I also know myself. I know that buckling down to spend 1000 hours outside—that’s roughly 2.75 hours a day, for those of you pulling out your calculators—would require a sudden and gigantic shift in my mindset and daily life and the daily life of my toddler. I know that there could be setbacks and loss of focus. And I also know that I can be a perfectionist; if we get too far behind, I might get squirrely and bail. I don’t want to set myself up for failure. So, I have decided to compromise with a goal of 365 hours outside this year. This goal feels incredibly doable for me. One hour a day is no biggie, especially during seasons when temperatures are less extreme. Even two or three hours doesn’t seem that daunting on days when I need to make up some time. Some might say that I should be aiming to push myself, but I know that this bite-sized goal will do two things. First, it will set up the habit. If the habit is easy to do, then it will be easy to continue doing, and the next step won’t feel so big. Second, it will give me a little taste of success at the end of 2024, which will motivate me to push myself further in 2025. In this way, aiming for 365 hours outside this year is preparing me for a future in which I can successfully spend 1000 hours outside. Baby steps are valid steps on your journey! And who knows? Perhaps I will surprise myself.
New Year, New Gear
One way I am preparing to extend my time outside with my daughter is by investing in some quality clothing and gear for both of us. The biggest challenge we face here in New England is a wide variety of weather at pretty much any time of year. I expect to see days below freezing, days of rain that threaten to flood our basement, and days when I’ll get sweaty just from walking to the mailbox (we have seen two of these in 2024 already). Thankfully, outdoor gear is available to keep us safe and comfortable in nearly all types of weather.
One of our favorite items so far is my daughter’s rain pants, which you can see her modeling below. They are a lightweight raincoat-like material that can pull on over clothes, coats, and even snowsuits. They keep my daughter clean and dry as she plays in water, mud, snow, wet sand, you name it! Also, they make her look like a little lobsterman, so that’s a big plus.
Another must-have is her SnowStoppers Mittens. I wish I had some of these when I was a kid! Their long fabric cuffs go all the way up to the child’s elbow to keep snow (water, mud, etc.) from sneaking in at their wrists. They are close-fitting enough to be worn under a winter jacket and stretchy enough to go over a lighter sweatshirt in warmer weather. They also have little plastic clips to keep them together when they aren’t being worn, because nobody likes discovering that they only have one mitten.
The new item I’m most looking forward to trying out is a rain cover for our stroller. Honestly, I almost can’t believe I didn’t invest in one sooner. We live in a small neighborhood within walking distance of our local public library, a park, and several playgrounds, so I spend a lot of time pushing my daughter in the stroller. With a rain cover and an umbrella, I will really have no excuse to stay inside this year!
Other Strategies
With proper gear to extend our comfort in a variety of weather, I feel confident that we will have ample opportunity to be outdoors. My next step is to allow the outdoors to permeate our home and our lifestyle. This involves lots of little strategies that will add up over time.
Because I have set a measurable goal of 365 hours spent outside, I want to keep track of that time in a concrete, visible way that includes my daughter. I’ve made this cute little coloring sheet to hang on our fridge, where my daughter and I can enjoy viewing it. My hope is that it will be a colorful and noticeable daily reminder of our mission. It will feel like a small accomplishment every time I fill in a space, and seeing it fully colored at the end of the year (or maybe even sooner) will be so satisfying! Of course, my daughter will want to join me in coloring, as she should! I have printed a second copy just for her, so she can scribble at her leisure.
Another tiny strategy is putting nature content on my reading list. One of my personal goals in 2024 is to get back into the habit of reading that I was in before my daughter was born. With books like There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather by Linda Åkeson McGurk and 15 Minutes Outside by Rebecca P. Cohen on my reading list, what I’m learning will support my hours outside, and I’ll fill two needs with one deed.
Have you resolved to spend more time in nature this year, on your own or with your children? What steps have you taken to prepare yourself for the success you’re envisioning? Here’s to a year of fresh air and fun!
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