Step out of your comfort zone to grow his world

One of the most challenging things about raising a kid is having to step out of your own comfort zone to make his world a little bigger.

In my case, it’s the outdoors. Morning sun baths and afternoon romps in the playground are a must for my little boy, and I always struggle when those times come. I’m not a big fan of going out. I’d rather read on the couch. I’d rather watch my DVDs. Since I try to be a responsible (and un-boring) parent, I just suck it up. Duh, put your child’s needs before your own right? Right! So with a slather of anti-mosquito repellent for the toddler and a kick in the ass for me, off we go to the wild, wild outdoors. Wild, wild outdoors being our neighborhood playground and our own backyard.

Getting over my discomfort of the outdoors is easy. I just watch my son’s eyes open wide once the front door unlocks and ta-da, I’m as game as he is. Well, almost. He dashes towards the garden and starts picking on every stone and blade of grass he sees.

Oh baby, baby, it’s a wild world.

He digs his hands into the soil. He holds pebbles and rocks in his hands and bumps them together. (Maybe soon he’ll discover fire. Uh oh.) He plays with toy reptiles and feeds them stones. He drops grass and gravel into a watering can and giggles each time he hears a splash. He inspects the earth. He feels the earth. He smells it. He almost tasted it once; good thing I was there to tell him that it may look like chocolate cake, but it is not chocolate cake!

While the toddler’s senses open up, so do mine. I thank him, I really do, for helping me reconnect with nature too. The sofa at home won’t give me the Vitamin D my bones need. The TV at home won’t swing a fresh breeze in my face. So yes, I am grateful that this little boy has led me to rediscover what’s out there, to assure me that being outdoors isn’t so bad.

Timmy’s world is getting bigger everyday with the many things he is discovering outside the house. So far we’ve seen grasshoppers jump from stone to stone, worms and caterpillars and other creepy crawlies bedecking leaves and grass, beautiful yellow and white butterflies resting on flowers and flying in the garden, soil in shades of brown, maroon and orange. At least I think it was soil. Hmmm.

The most important thing I tell myself when I feel the laziness coming on is: “Get a grip! Soon he’ll be wanting to spend time outdoors without you! You’ll no longer be his nature buddy!” And that, my friends, gets me off the couch fast enough to strap on my own walking sandals and walk hand-in-hand with him to the door.

It may be his world, but taking a step outside my own world can make his much bigger. It’s one of those pretty obvious things you should know about parenting, but I’m learning you have to experience it to truly understand that lesson. In the end, it’s what a parent should do. Hold his hand while he gets a grip on new ground. Let go when he can explore on his own. Watch him run, run, run as his world expands. Then we come home, the little boy tired from his explorations but ecstatic with the new things that has just made his world bigger. As for me, I go back to my own world and happily discover that it has grown a little bigger too.

Hi! I'm Toni Tiu, and I've been blogging at at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.