Depends on the boy, it could be one more year or ten!

DS1 never has. DS2 will probably practice baseball in the yard till he graduates from HS. So probably 8 more years for us!

This is too funny!

As a 50y/o "Boy", my interests started to turn to "Cars and Girls" by my early teens!!

My brother and I were kinda hard on things growing-up, but we lived on a farm (eastern ND)! Toy- (AND the REAL!) tractors, and my sandpile were my ideal things to do!
Sports were fun too! We'd mow football-field lines, etc., and have friends out sometimes.
Broke a couple house windows playin' Baseball sometimes too!!

So....yeah....you've got a few more years of "damage" coming...;-)
In retrospect however, they go WAAAAYYYY to fast.....

Faron

It probably depends on both the kid and the size/type of yard. Both of my brothers had hordes of friends over to play soccer and other things until they left home, but we were in a semi-rural zone and had a pretty big yard without obstacles. I imagine that a kid might outgrow a smaller yard or one with more obstacles sooner. (Maybe once he's more independently mobile, he'll opt to go elsewhere to play sports?)

I agree with faron-the time will go by "waaaayyyy" too quickly. Treasure these days!

My boys never played in the yard. They played in the street, on the sidewalks and driveways and in the woods behind the houses. I guess it depends on your neighborhood and what the kids like to do. Mine liked street hockey, skateboarding and riding bikes. There is very little traffic on my street.

Do they go to the park to play baseball, etc? Mine did, but back then there wasn't a pedophile behind every tree and bush. After awhile they want to be where Mom and Dad aren't watching, so by 14 or 15, I'd say.

I agree -- enjoy the kids. The garden can wait.

I think it was here that someone posted a really sweet story about kids and yards. Apparently this person had lots of kids in her family. Her Dad could never grow grass in some spots because it was always being trampled and he always complained about it. Everyone grew up and were back at the house visiting. Someone asked the Dad if he was happy that he finally was able to grow grass. The Dad teared up and said that he would much rather have all his kids back home than have grass.

My dad's yard had permanent baseball bases in the grass for years--long after the last brother graduated from college. Every time they'd come home, it was football or baseball out in the side yard.

However, they knew better than to run over Dad's veggie garden or Mom's flowers. Those areas were automatic "outs" and everyone avoided them.

You need to google Erma Bombeck and yard. I can find the article tomorrow but once you read it you won't ask this question again. Thanks to her, I gave my boys free rein on my front flower bed for one summer and I never complained again. ;)

Erma Bombeck

The Green, Green Grass of Home
by Erma Bombeck, written November 1971

When Mike was 2, he wanted a sandbox, and his father said:
"There goes the yard We'll have kids over here day and
night, and they'll throw sand into the flower beds, and cats
will make a mess in it, and it'll kill the grass for sure."

And Mike's mother said, "It'll come back."

When Mike was 5, he wanted a jungle gym set with swings that
would take his breath away and bars to take him to the summit,
and his father said: "Good grief, I've seen those things in
back yards, and do you know what they look like? Mud holes in
a pasture. Kids digging their gym shoes in the ground. It'll kill the
grass."

And Mike's mother said, "It'll come back."

Between breaths, when Daddy was blowing up the plastic swimming
pool, he warned: "You know what they're going to do to this
place? They're going to condemn it and use it for a missile site.
I hope you know what you're doing. They'll track water everywhere
and have a million water fights, and you won't be able to take
out the garbage without stepping in mud up to your neck. When we
take this down, we'll have the only brown lawn on the block."

"It'll come back," Mike's mother said.

When Mike was 12, he volunteered his yard for a campout. As they
hoisted the tents and drove in the spikes, his father stood at the
window and observed, "Why don't I just put the grass seed out in
cereal bowls for the birds and save myself the trouble of spreading
it around? You know for a fact that those tents and all those big
feet are going to trample down every single blade of grass, don't
you. Don't bother to answer. I know what you're going to say.
'It'll come back.'"

The basketball hoop on the side of the garage attracted more crowds
than the Olympics. And a small patch of lawn that started out with
a barren spot the size of a garbage can lid soon drew to encompass
the entire side yard.

Just when it looked as if the new seed might take root, the winter
came and the sled runners beat it into ridges. Mike's father shook
his head and said, "I never asked for much in this life - only a
patch of grass."

And his wife smiled and said, "It'll come back."

The lawn this fall was beautiful. It was green and alive and
rolled out like a sponge carpet along the drive where gym shoes had
trod ... along the garage where bicycles used to fall ... and
around the flower beds where little boys used to dig with
iced-tea spoons.

But Mike's father never saw it. He anxiously looked beyond the yard
and asked with a catch in his voice, "he will come back, won't he?"

Erma Bombeck

The Green, Green Grass of Home
by Erma Bombeck, written November 1971

When Mike was 2, he wanted a sandbox, and his father said:
"There goes the yard We'll have kids over here day and
night, and they'll throw sand into the flower beds, and cats
will make a mess in it, and it'll kill the grass for sure."

And Mike's mother said, "It'll come back."

When Mike was 5, he wanted a jungle gym set with swings that
would take his breath away and bars to take him to the summit,
and his father said: "Good grief, I've seen those things in
back yards, and do you know what they look like? Mud holes in
a pasture. Kids digging their gym shoes in the ground. It'll kill the
grass."

And Mike's mother said, "It'll come back."

Between breaths, when Daddy was blowing up the plastic swimming
pool, he warned: "You know what they're going to do to this
place? They're going to condemn it and use it for a missile site.
I hope you know what you're doing. They'll track water everywhere
and have a million water fights, and you won't be able to take
out the garbage without stepping in mud up to your neck. When we
take this down, we'll have the only brown lawn on the block."

"It'll come back," Mike's mother said.

When Mike was 12, he volunteered his yard for a campout. As they
hoisted the tents and drove in the spikes, his father stood at the
window and observed, "Why don't I just put the grass seed out in
cereal bowls for the birds and save myself the trouble of spreading
it around? You know for a fact that those tents and all those big
feet are going to trample down every single blade of grass, don't
you. Don't bother to answer. I know what you're going to say.
'It'll come back.'"

The basketball hoop on the side of the garage attracted more crowds
than the Olympics. And a small patch of lawn that started out with
a barren spot the size of a garbage can lid soon drew to encompass
the entire side yard.

Just when it looked as if the new seed might take root, the winter
came and the sled runners beat it into ridges. Mike's father shook
his head and said, "I never asked for much in this life - only a
patch of grass."

And his wife smiled and said, "It'll come back."

The lawn this fall was beautiful. It was green and alive and
rolled out like a sponge carpet along the drive where gym shoes had
trod ... along the garage where bicycles used to fall ... and
around the flower beds where little boys used to dig with
iced-tea spoons.

But Mike's father never saw it. He anxiously looked beyond the yard
and asked with a catch in his voice, "he will come back, won't he?"

� �

� �

The "boy" in my house, aka husband, was filling water balloons in the back yard last night... he's 50ish.

You guys are going to make me cry!

Oakley-

That's a pretty damn good post!

My brother and I used to LITERALLY sit in mud-puddles and play sometimes!!!

(I'll maybe stop doing that someday....;-))

Mom just said, "They'll wash out"!

Faron

Sorry for the double post, I did it on my iPad and well, it went nuts!

Faron, I'm still finding little dinosaurs and stuff in the dirt! I have one sitting on a shelf in the kitchen.

Oh the spoons I lost during that time! lol

Okay, I hear you folks. I will just have to wait and see. I am in no hurry and as I have an older child leaving for college in 6 weeks, I am all too aware of how quickly the time goes. Seriously, doing the math, probably about the time #4 quits tearing up the grass it'll be time for a sandbox and wading pool for the grandchildren. Yikes!

Eight years ago I was distressed when a large litter of rescue pups destroyed a treasured row of fancy new perennials. Now that one of those pups has a gray muzzle and slightly less spring in his step, I have to wonder what I was thinking to care about those darn flowers. I wish I had that litter back today!

leafy, my boys are 9 and 11 and they still play in the yard. For a while they used the front yard b/c the back yard was our dog's bathroom and they were too lazy to pick up his "piles" and that drove dh crazy. They had their big lacrosse goal set up in front and created a nice mess in the lawn in front of the goal. Then they were playing golf and making nice divots in the lawn as well. I kept reminding him that I was happy to have the lawn suffer if it meant the kids were outside instead of being coach potatoes.

We had to put our dog to sleep this year after 16 years with us, so the backyard has now turned into a playground for the boys. Most of what is landscaped is off to one side so for now they have a decent area for their pick up lacrosse games. We also have a "jungle gym" playset in the backyard that my kids have all outgrown so I'm looking forward to getting rid of that and beginning a major overhaul of landscaping the back yard. I do plan on working around the exterior though so my kids can play lax without doing much destruction.

But b/w our dog and the kids, we've had to settle for less than ideal lawn and landscaping. It's certainly presentable, but not the dream dh has for competing in the neighborhood with the other men over who has the best lawn! :)

I am sorry but just the subject of this thread makes me ill. I appreciate your comment about not being in a hurry, but the question is still there. Why do people care when someone walks on their lawn? Why aren't kids welcome to do what they do best; PLAY!? I used to make sure son and friends played in MY yard. Yards are for playing!! We purchased 2+ acres so there was plenty of room to play. I became a gardener so I had something to do outside while my kids played. Forget flowers put in a sand box and let the kids PLAY!!

Wow, Arcy.

If you read my post, there is nowhere in it where I say I don't let my son play in the yard or that I won't let him play in future. I would estimate that he's out there for two hours a day in this weather.

What I did say is that due to his playing, there are areas without grass, and that he is hard on the plants--no child cruelty there, just facts.

Congratulations on your two acres and on learning to garden.

Arcy, I can speak for no one else, but I can say that I find a very important part of my job as a parent is to teach my children boundaries and to be mindful of how their actions affect others. If somebody has a nice lawn, they had to put effort into that and that effort should be respected by not indiscriminately walking on it or allowing their pets to use it for restrooms or whatever.

I also strive to teach my children that being part of a family means balancing the needs of all family members. Some things can be prioritized, like just putting up with bald patches in the lawn until a kid is older, or choosing plants that can handle errant balls better (I think I have seen lists to this effect). I can tell you that in our family, my husband and I need to garden. It helps us to deal with the stresses of life. My vegetable garden is often a spiritual retreat that keeps me from teetering over the edge. My kids can still walk through the flower beds to catch lizards and butterflies, to look for ladybugs but they can do this because they have learned where to step. My nephews only get to walk through the beds if they learn where to step and if not, they need to find something else to do outside.

As part of full disclosure, I do not have lawn. It is not practical where I am. I also know that I am very fortunate to have 5 acres, there is somewhere else for the kids to play. If not, I would have to find other ways to meet all of the competing needs of my family.

I suppose if you have the capability to purchase 2 acres, it's pretty easy to let your kids have room to play. But that's not possible for everyone. Our yard is less than 1/4 of an acre. It's pretty small. We are fortunate to live on a dead end street so the kids have the perfect place to play basketball and kick ball. But lacrosse needs grass and we have a very small yard. While I don't mind that the yard isn't perfect, I don't like having a mud patch right in front because the kids have torn up the yard from playing lacrosse in the one area that is playable, but also the area that floods when it rains. It's not only not attractive especially when it's right in front of the house, but it also makes a mess. So I can understand where dh is coming from when he gets irritated by the boys playing there. Thankfully, they have a good spot now in the backyard since our dog is no longer here to use it as his bathroom. But really, it's easy to criticize when you have a couple of acres and plenty of room to have a garden and a place to play. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Leafy, when my boys were smaller I was just like you. When they were about 3 and 6 they started digging in my brand new flowerbed. Although we live on an acre (now 2 acres), they played in the front yard where the shade was, and I could easily watch them from inside.

I didn't really get onto them, but I was so upset that my poor flowerbed had big holes in it, full of Matchbox cars, combines, etc.

Oh, and I would notice when company came over they'd look at the mess out the side of their eye's, totally disapproving. But I didn't care.

Shortly after I got the newspaper and I read Erma's column. That same summer I was at the kitchen sink doing dishes. Windows open. My oldest who barely reached the top of the windowsill from outside said through the screen, "I love being home in the summer!"

I would bulldoze my flowerbeds immediately if I could have those days back. sniff.