{"id":9208,"date":"2023-09-20T12:40:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/?p=9208"},"modified":"2023-09-20T12:40:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:40:12","slug":"kids-in-tow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/2023\/09\/kids-in-tow\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids in Tow"},"content":{"rendered":"

By James Hedrick, Commissioner, The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission<\/em><\/p>\n

Montgomery Parks Summer Adventure Challenge with Kids<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know anything about parks.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Commissioner on the Montgomery County side of The Maryland-National Capital Park<\/em> and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), and I really don\u2019t know anything about parks.<\/p>\n

My background is in affordable housing and development \u2013 the planning<\/em> side of the Commission. Most of what I know about parks is limited to about a decade of taking my kids to parks hoping that they will wear themselves out before bedtime.<\/p>\n

Given my need to expand my knowledge of Montgomery County\u2019s parks system, the Commission\u2019s August recess offered a good opportunity to become more familiar with at least a few of the county\u2019s over 400<\/em> parks.<\/p>\n

With a little help from my kids \u2013 Thing 1 (age 9), Thing 2 (age 5), and Thing 3 (age 2) \u2013 we decided to take the Montgomery Parks Summer Adventure Challenge<\/a>. Designed as a parks-related scavenger hunt to help residents discover new places within the parks system, it seemed tailor-made to further my parks education.<\/p>\n

And tire my kids out.<\/p>\n\"Toddler\n

I wanted to start by going to a new park we had never been to before (see the Summer Adventure Challenge\u2019s \u201cDiscover\u201d theme). So, early in August, Thing 3 and I loaded up the bike trailer and set off from my neighborhood of Twinbrook to Edith Throckmorton Neighborhood Park.<\/p>\n

We never made it. Despite having three kids, I failed to anticipate my toddler\u2019s shocking lack of patience. Turns out that toddlers aren\u2019t great at delaying gratification and really<\/em> don\u2019t like passing three or four other parks while not being allowed to play at ALL OF THEM.<\/p>\n

Choosing to see this as a celebration of the quality and<\/em> quantity of Montgomery County\u2019s parks rather than poor planning on my part, Thing 3 and I stopped about halfway along our planned route at Dewey Local Park.<\/p>\n\"child\n

Dewey is, as it says, a local park. Not unlike a couple hundred other parks in the Montgomery County Parks system. It has multiple play structures, a covered picnic area, two<\/em> dog parks (large and small breeds), an outdoor exercise machine area, a soccer field, and a street hockey rink. Having all those amenities at a \u201clocal\u201d park is just one reason Montgomery Parks wins national awards every year.<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh, and did I mention Dewey Local Park has murals? Because it has MURALS.
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