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Wednesday, August 17, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Take your kids camping
By edie Jones
Correspondent
Recently I read an article
about the joys of taking your
toddler camping and it took
me back to the days when my
adult children were little. The
memories of those excursions
are very precious and the
results, as shown in the way
they are raising their own
children and living their lives,
are evidence of the value.
Soon after reading the
article, I was visiting with a
young Sisters mom who had
just taken her 18-month-old
on her first camping trip.
Unfortunately, it was not a lot
of fun. In fact, they cut their
outing short and came home.
How sad! I hope I can
convince her to try again.
Camping with a toddler is
definitely a different experi-
ence, and that is probably the
first thing to recognize. Your
attention needs to be focused
on them instead of your own
agenda. Being prepared for
possible problems will make
a big difference.
Toddlers are going to get
filthy; relax, let it happen.
There are some studies that
indicate that children who eat
dirt will develop immune sys-
tems that may resist allergies
and other problems later on.
Whether at home or in
a campground you have to
keep an eye on your toddler.
That’s a given. While camp-
ing, picking up sticks and
running with them is always
a danger or the possibility of
falling into the fire will keep
you on your guard. These are
different challenges than in
your backyard, but the job
of monitoring your toddler’s
actions is the same.
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An idea that came from
the article on keeping little
ones warm and cozy at night
is pretty ingenious. Instead of
worrying about how to keep
them in a sleeping bag, put
them to bed in their snow-
suit! Now they can squirm
and wiggle to their hearts
content and wake-up rested
and cheerful. No more wor-
ried nights for mom and dad,
who also get to sleep through
the night.
If the dark of night is a
problem, hang small battery-
operated lights in the tent and
make it a magical place.
Tents can double as won-
derful places to play since
most young ones love small
areas to climb into, onto and
around. Use sleeping bags
and air mats to create excit-
ing hiding places. Take along
favorite toys and turn your
home away from home into a
fort with all kinds of special
surprises. A little planning
ahead will make a big differ-
ence. And tents create won-
derful storytime locations.
Why is it important to take
your kids outdoors? Why on
earth would you want to put
yourself through the hard
work of making it happen?
There are lots of reasons, one
of them being perspective.
Since a toddler’s gaze
is usually on their immedi-
ate surroundings they will
naturally be attracted to the
things nearer to the ground
and under their feet. This
causes you to also pay more
attention to things that crawl,
slither, borough and glide
along the earth or water.
When was the last time you
spent 10 minutes examin-
ing the antics of a colony
of ants? What industrious
critters they are, with lessons
to teach about persistence.
Explore and discover with
your children and your life
will be enriched.
A book every parent
would be wise to read is
“Last Child in the Woods,”
by Richard Louv, who coined
the phrase “nature-deficit
disorder.” This is his way
of describing the increasing
urbanization of America and
the decreasing time children
spend in unstructured play.
This book describes in
detail scientific studies link-
ing time in nature to a host
of emotional and physical
benefits including higher
self-esteem, stress reduc-
tion, better social interactions
and prevention of childhood
depression. Children who
spend time in natural places
with lots of free time increase
their inventiveness and cre-
ativity. Imagination blooms
with increased exposure to
unstructured elements. The
future of our kids and of soci-
ety depends on the develop-
ment of these qualities. These
are characteristics needed in
our next generation of lead-
ers and citizens.
Closer to home, there are
few better ways to help your
children become inquisi-
tive and prepared to learn
in school. The younger you
begin, the more opportunity
there is for this to happen.
And, living here in Sisters,
we’ve a wonderful, natural
“school” at our fingertips.
This column was inspired
by the writing of Seattle-
based freelancer Jeff Layton
who writes about out-
door adventures and over-
seas travels on his blog,
MarriedToAdventure.com.
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Come in, Relax, Enjoy!
After gathering feed-
back from citizens, prop-
erty owners, business
owners, the Sisters Area
Chamber of Commerce
and U.S. Forest Service,
the Oregon Department of
Transportation will brief
the Sisters City Council on
plans for the Barclay Drive/
Highway 20 roundabout at
the 7 p.m. Council meeting
on Thursday, August 25.
Abby Driscoll of ODOT
told The Nugget that plans
are for bids to be taken in
December, with construc-
tion on the project starting in
February 2017, with a goal
of traffic moving through
the roundabout by Memorial
Day weekend. She said that
some finishing touches will
still need to be done after
that date, but ODOT wants to
have the roundabout moving
traffic through by that tradi-
tional kickoff of the summer
season.
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Landscaping and color choices are part of the plan.
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ODOT is seeking City
Council approval of the
roundabout construction traf-
fic management plan and
the aesthetics of the installa-
tion. The public can view the
draft concept plan at http://
www.oregon.gov/ODOT/
HWY/REGION4/Pages/
US20atBarclayDrive.aspx.
ODOT has met with focus
groups on management of
traffic during construction,
and Driscoll assured The
Nugget that “we’re going
to make sure people can get
through.”
A similar traffic manage-
ment plan was required dur-
ing the renovation and recon-
struction of Cascade Avenue
in 2014.
Focus groups have also
discussed the aesthetics of
the project, including col-
ors of concrete, and art for
the installation, which will
mark a gateway into Central
Oregon.
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ODOT to brief city
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