Yesterday’s weather has reminded me of a walk at West Whittering beach in the UK. Picture a sandy beach. It is low tide, the sea is barely visible somewhere far. Warm dominant wind blows the soft powdery sand at you fiercely. Now, back to reality, we are in Switzerland and the wind doesn’t blow sand at us instead it showers with rain.
Meanwhile Indoors
My son decided he would like to draw something. He was determined to use many colours but he didn’t know what to draw exactly.
He wanted to work on it collectively with his sister and me. As I was taking the crayons out and the notepad, an idea sparked in his head. He opened the notepad and took the brown crayon. He divided the paper into smaller parts. Then he dedicated a colour to each part and instructed us to colour as he told. He felt in control and it was great to see how he gently giggled when we improvised and things didn’t go the way he imagined. He was easy and we were too. We named him Colour Chief and proudly played his part.
And we just coloured. It was a bliss. We all chipped in and got the work done. There was no competition, it wasn’t a race, it was a bliss. The kids enjoyed it so much that we made four different pictures.
1000 Hours Outside Challenge
This week has passed by ever so quickly. We spent time outdoors five out of seven days due to some above described weather. In Hungarian customs April is labelled as a foolish month due to its ever changing weather. Well, here is Switzerland, March feels like April in Hungary. The weather is playing tricks on us, as my son would say. Its hard to tell how to dress. It could be winter when the bus picks up the kids in the morning and early summer warm when the bus brings them back from kindergarten. Overall we braved the elements for over 12 hours outdoors this week. Since we starter the challenge we logged over 120 hours outdoors in total. This number is not as high as I expected it to be three and half months into the challenge, but it comes with no surprise due to the time spent in hospital earlier this year. I am not worried about the early set backs as I know that we will recuperate the hours in the warmer summer months ahead of us.
In Summary
We made the most of the good weather outdoors and made good use of our time indoors. The kids enjoyed this simple drawing activity so much that we coloured a dozen more in the following day. It gave us a break from the daily routine. It is easy to set up and put away. My daughter learns bit by bit that drawing happens on the paper and not on the wall or furniture. It teaches them to put away things after use, so it is ready next time we need them. And my favourite part is that while drawing the conversation flows like water from a mountain stream. During this time, I can indulge in the stories my son invents.
Expat Mom Journal 