moaning mummy

I have been talking to an owner of an outdoor nursery. They have 3-5 year olds outdoors all the time. They are in Scotland my friends. Brrrrrrr.


I think I need to go on a boot camp, spend a week there, de-wimping myself. Not sure they'd want me moaning away though.


I 100% believe in what they do there and the philosophy and research outdoor nurseries (there are actually several in the UK) are founded on is sound and actually inspirational. They don't believe in bad weather, just weather. They urge parents to refrain from talking about "miserable days" because the kids that do find weather tricky are (no surprise) the children with pathetic parents like myself.


Children are young animals. I know that. I completely and utterly agree that nature is the greatest teaching resource and that children, by and large, want to get elbow deep in dirt, pebbles and water and explore, explore, explore. It's instinctive.


So when my two mini-experimenters are out in the garden I'm going to refrain and bite my tongue. I'm going to let their mud pies be as sloppy and gooey as they like, I'll let them out in wind and rain if that's what they desire. And as I shiver I'll be hoping that I'm raising kids much less wussy than their mother. That cannot be hard.