Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 2: Today's tip is to rally your family or roommates for
Speaker 2: toad time, that is time to gather outside after dinner.
Speaker 2: This spring, my family set the norm of at least
Speaker 2: trying to go outside most nights after dinner. My little
Speaker 2: boys in particular, that's my three year old and eight
Speaker 2: year old love playing in the yard until it gets dark.
Speaker 2: It's a good way to pass the time before bedtime.
Speaker 2: When I started talking about time outside after dinner, my
Speaker 2: eleven year old daughter gave this routine a delightful name,
Speaker 2: toad time, because that's what you get with the first
Speaker 2: letters of each word. After thinking about it for a
Speaker 2: while and realizing that we are repeating the word time
Speaker 2: in this acronym, I think we might modify it to
Speaker 2: together outside after dinner, because honestly, being out there with
Speaker 2: others is part of the appeal. Whatever your household configuration,
Speaker 2: you might enjoy toad time too. We have all heard
Speaker 2: that being outside boosts our moods. Beyond that, I find
Speaker 2: that being outside to gather foster's connection.
Speaker 3: My kids really play with each other outside when they
Speaker 3: are climbing trees, or sliding down the slide on our
Speaker 3: place set, or creating a restaurant kitchen in a log pile.
Speaker 3: When folks stay inside, they tend to head to their
Speaker 3: own rooms and do their own thing. Many times that
Speaker 3: involves being on devices, But being outside creates occasions to
Speaker 3: have fun or relax together. If your household looks different
Speaker 3: than ours, your toaed time may look different too. If
Speaker 3: you have teenagers, maybe you'd like to play cards or
Speaker 3: jinga or pictionary on your porch. If it's you and
Speaker 3: a partner or roommates, maybe you want to have a
Speaker 3: glass of wine or a cup of tea and chat.
Speaker 3: If you have an elderly relative in your household, you
Speaker 3: could invite her to share family memories while sitting outside.
Speaker 3: It can even be nice to each curl up with
Speaker 3: a good book and enjoy the fresh air and each
Speaker 3: other's presence in silence. Or you can go somewhere if
Speaker 3: you want, take a walk in your neighborhood, or bike
Speaker 3: to a nearby park or ice cream shop. Visit your
Speaker 3: neighbors because maybe they are having toad time too. One
Speaker 3: of the benefits of summer is that the light lasts longer,
Speaker 3: so you get extra opportunities for adventure or leisure that
Speaker 3: are hard to pull off during the winter when you
Speaker 3: are in school or at work. It doesn't have to
Speaker 3: be hard to enjoy toad time. All you have to
Speaker 3: do is put on your shoes and maybe some bugspray,
Speaker 3: set aside your devices and chores for a little while,
Speaker 3: and go outside. Let the toad time unfold from there.
Speaker 3: If your household tries toad time, I'd love to hear
Speaker 3: how it goes. You can reach me at Laura at
Speaker 3: Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 3: our text.
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
Speaker 1: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 3: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
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