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