It’s not that my kids weren’t playing outside over the winter — they were. Honest.

It’s just that it was an especially icy, wet, windy winter, rather than a picturesque fairytale winter wonderland. The kids would go play outside and come back, wet and freezing, sooner than I would have liked. How do you force a child to stay outside for fresh air when there’s no snow — just a lot of frozen dead grass and frigid wind?

Admittedly, yes, they played too many video games over the winter. Now it’s time to correct that with lots of vitamin D and mud.

But now, after what feels like six months of false starts, spring weather is actually here! It feels amazing to be able to nudge the kids outside and watch them run around the yard happily. They’ve missed it, too.

We’re still in the rubber-boots-and-jackets phase, but soon enough they’ll be out there in sandals and shorts and T-shirts.

I love this time of year, when every sunny day feels like a gift — lifting the spirits of parents everywhere who are tired of everyone being stuck inside …

Continue reading my weekly parenting column, The Mom Scene, for my list of 50 (yes, FIFTY) backyard activities we’re excited to do this spring …