Well okay, there is. I live in Michigan. I don't even want to leave the house when it's cold and drizzly and miserable outside, let alone play outside.
But I have children. Three toddlers, in fact.
And it's wildly important for kiddos of all ages, but especially young ones, to get outside as much as possible, as often as possible.
So--as long as it's safe (temp and hazard wise) for them to play outside--outside we go, every day!
Like today, when we checked out the Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park, a 22 acre park only a few miles from my family's home.
It was 48 degrees. It felt worse because it was grey and drizzly and damp. All the slides were wet. The new, famous park was absolutely devoid of kids--that's how gross the weather was.
But the triplets had a fabulous time.
They ran up and down the park's beautifully sculptured hills. They dashed through the trails and clambered inside the two-stories-tall animal sculptures--an otter, a beaver, a bear. They clambered up climbing ropes and pushed themselves to their safety limit. They thoroughly explored the tot lot section and the big kid section. They mostly avoided the soaked slides (although Miko, of course, had to try one once.)
And as drizzly and miserable as it was, I had a wonderful time too. Seeing the delight on my children's faces as they experienced such a fantastic new park. Clambering up with them as they screeched in fear when they climbed too high and reached their internal limit. Watching them throw rocks into the water garden--such a quintessential childhood experience.
One of my favorite quotes of Dr. Maria Montessori's about nature is:
"Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and, when the grass of the meadows is damp with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet;
Let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning as it wakes every living creature that divides its day between waking and sleeping."
I love the gentle reminders in this statement. Let them be free. We so often--indeed, almost always--dictate a child's life according to our schedule. Our convenience. When there are puddles, we tell them to stay out of it. When they have shoes on, we tell them not to take them off. We don't want them to be wet, because that's more mess for us. We don't want them to take their shoes off, because it's more inconvenient for us to put them on over and over again.
But I didn't have children to be convenient.
If I could have had my druthers, I would not have gone outside today. I would have waited till it was "nice" weather.
But the children need to go outside. And they should.
And if the only thing I have to conquer is my convenience to make it happen, it's worth it.