Now that reverse winter is over, we're soaking up as much of this autumn as we can get. We wanted to head over to Auburn to go to Chewacla State Park and it did not disappoint. It's just a quick 45 minute drive from our house, and the kids had a blast pulling their shoes off and wading around in the waterfall.
We've been learning about mushrooms and seeds and a whole host of interesting aspects of autumn, so to have the kids be my little nature guide was pretty fun. We even found two poisonous mushrooms and a spider with perfect camouflage.
I commented to Ben how, yet another way, homeschooling has changed my perspective on parenting overall. More or less, I've embraced a long game. Before, I would have calculated the 'worthiness' of an outing based on the probability that everyone would have a consistently good time. If there was a good chance we would need a lot of band aids or if they would be put in more strenuous positions, I'd probably hold off until a different time.
These days I intentionally calculate all the risks, (kids might fall in the water, scrape toes, bug bites etc.) and I grab the band aids and head out the door. I want my kids to test their limits at 4 and 6 so that come 14 and 16, they know what to do with themselves in other situations. Giving them a thousand opportunities to do their own risk management and often times manage poorly (I WON'T FALL IN MOM! and splash) means they begin to realize they're not infallible, but it also allows them to engage in their natural world and set their own realistic limits.
My long game goal is that when they engage in risk assessment as young adults, those muscles will have been flexing for a long time. They'll make more worth while risks and will get the reward of pushing themselves towards things they actually care about, not just for the thrill they finally push the limits.
Eowyn had a few limit pushes today (including getting her behind wet by freezing cold water.) Elias felt the thrill of coming a little too close to a spider. Rowan licked a few things too, so he's living wild in his own way.
And we didn't even have to bust out the bandaids!
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