[Pfhreak]

Huh, interesting.

I have a kid and I'm grateful we gave up our lawn. She plants in the spring, harvests, cooks, and preserves with us. She's excited to make pickles, jam, squash, pumpkins, corn, etc from things she's grown and tended to. She even got to pick out some of the flowers and make her own little square.

Watching her step out to grab some blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries is one of the best feelings in the world.

We read seed catalogs together in the winters and plan what we could grow (Ooh, what if we grew purple cauliflower? Or rhubarb for pie!)

[pbhjpbhj]

Where does she play ball games, set up a paddling pool, and wrestle?

I'd agree if you have a house big enough to have a playroom, and have open space close by, it's probably easy enough.

Our lawn is kinda a tiny, tiny, wildflower meadow, ie it's not cut much. The bees love the Clover.

[adrianN]

When I was young we did those things in public parks. Except for the pool, we went to a public pool instead.

[alistairSH]

Paddling pools and wrestling don't take a 1/5 acre lawn (not atypical suburban plot size). In my previous house, the back yard was heavily landscaped/hardscaped - patio, retaining wall, rocks and shrubs on the hill, etc. The front was lawn. Still plenty of room for my son to run around. And if he wanted more space, he went to the park around the corner.

There's also a substantial difference between a "natural" lawn, where clover and other plants are allowed vs the stereotypical "perfect" lawn (in the US) with a single grass species (and heavy application of herbicides and fertilizers).

[Pfhreak]

Ball games are at the park. It's a short bike ride or moderate walk away. We have a small gravel area we set up the paddling pool in, and no reason one can't wrestle in between beds (or indoors on the carpet).

[pbhjpbhj]

Great for you, our house is small (for the UK), there's a shoulder width of space around the beds; a park with grass is too far for the little ones to walk and there's been a couple of stabbings locally which makes us a little reluctant to let them out.

It's almost like sweeping statements such as "no one should have a lawn" need modifiers. ;o)

I'd guess grass is still better environmentally than gravel; so long as you don't over tend it (and our mower was rescued from the dump).

Have fun.

[jlangemeier]

I know this may sound callous; but if they're too young to go to the park unsupervised, are they actually in your yard unsupervised; especially if you're concerned about local crime? I'm not pushing one way or another honestly, it just seems like an odd qualifier unless your yard is extremely private and maintained in a way that there are 0 hazards as well.

[astura]

The park? That's where I did those activities as a kid.

[krageon]

In what decadent universe is a pool expected or even necessary?

[cowsandmilk]

I suggest you google “paddling pool”. They are under $30 and for little kids. Not something decadent...

[Sean1708]

One where everyone has at least a fiver: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bestway-BW51009-Ocean-Paddling-Mult...

[hinkley]

Our youngest lamented the lack of a front lawn to lay on. But I honestly don't believe that between the damp and the dog walkers she would have actually done the activities she had in her head.

You have to mow it. You have to mow it every week. You have to mow it every week even if you're tired, or sick, or it's hot, or it's cold, or it's rainy, or your friends are playing a game, or you had a sleepover. No excuses, no exceptions. You can't mow it too early in the morning, or too late in the evening. You can't stop halfway through and do the rest later (back yard/front yard perhaps, but not half of the front yard). The grass does not care what your reasons are. It just cares that you didn't mow it. If you don't, it punishes you. Sometimes the neighbors do, too.

In theory they understand this, in practice there are plenty of other activities that result in a litany of renegotiations. Grass. Doesn't. Care.