The curse of the Pacific Northwest

Being from the Pacific Northwest, we love our sunny days.  It is beautiful here, there is no doubt.  Water, mountains, hikes....God's creation.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, on sunny days over 75 and my kids melt.  They get "sooooo hot".  They "can't walk another step".  They get "tiiiiiied" (tired), as Amanda would say.  It really is kinda pathetic, but there are days I understand where they are coming from.

It is a strange dichotomy, because I feel as though being a good mom requires me being outside on a sunny day in the Northwest, no matter the protest on my kids lips.  On the other hand....it is summer, we are tired from running around, staying up late and doing all the summer stuff.  And well, some days I do want to lay inside, in front of the fan, on the floor, doing nothing.  To not be at a park, in the water, on a bike ride, picking berries and not be drying my hands out with the never ending sunscreen application process (my kids are whiter than white).   Today a good friend of mine told me she told her kids they could watch a show on her computer, "but only if you do it outside" and I'm thinking..."you're brilliant."  This is what the Pacific Northwest does to you.  I see the sunshine and I am pushing my kids out the door. 

Now, I am relatively sure the mom who was in front of the fan loving on her kids was a better one than the mom yelling about water squirter rules and confiscating toys left and right from the kids who were forced outside.  But staying inside seems somehow wrong.  Guilt.  Indoor remorse.   It could be a curse of the Pacific Northwest, but I am more inclined to believe it's me trying to be who I am not and trying to make my kids into something they are not. 

We need rest.  Sometimes, the fan is good.  A good book on a cool couch, with the sun coming through the window is okay.  A picnic inside on a blanket, with the light of the day shining on our indoor teacups is lovely.  A little break from sunscreen is healthy (I could do a whole post on my pure hatred of sunscreen application, but I have chosen to not fuel the hatred in writing about it). 

I never really thought much about being from Washington, other than I love it here.  I haven't thought it affected me, but in this, I have noticed I have distinct PNW issues.  However, I am breaking the bondage and I am reconciling myself that I need not take advantage of every sunny day.  Traitorous, though it feels, I believe I will actually be more like the "good mom" I want to be.