Raising Wild Children

Resting on some roots while hiking.

We are a nature loving family. We love watching the skies for birds and learning about different creepy crawly bugs. Our field guides are always close at hand. We let spiders hang out in windows and watch them do their thing. We eat wild weeds and leaves from trees. The kids love it! They love to show their friends! That amazing spark you see in their friends' eyes when they discover something amazing about nature is priceless. I tend to beam with pride when someone gets a boo boo and my girls run to find some Plantain or when they find a Sassafras tree and nibble a leaf because they taste like a fruity cereal. For the most part they are always open to trying whatever I tell them is safe to eat like Chickweed, Lamb's Quarters, and Sheep's Sorrel. My kids can identify without any help at least 15-20 plants and more than that many animals. That is why when I saw this it surprised me

"The average American child can recognize 1,000 corporate logos, but can't identify 10 plants and animals native to his or her own region." ~Paul Hawken

This wasn't as scary as some of the statistics I saw on how much TV/computer/video game time the average kid gets. We don't have a TV but we do have computers with netflix and hulu. I will admit there are days when my kids watch more than they should but I try to make sure those days are few and far between. As a side note I will say since we are in the holiday season that I am HUGELY GRATEFUL that there are very few commercials on hulu for kids! I don't hear a lot of "I wants" from them because they don't see it. When we go to my mom's and they see them it is almost instant. "I want that!!" 

I watched a documentary the other night while cleaning and it was eye opening even for me. It was called Project Wild Thing. You can watch it on netflix or on their website. They had some great ideas for "marketing" Nature to our kids. I had been tossing around the idea of ridding myself of my smart phone and this documentary helped me make up my mind. Even for a natural mama like me the thought of not being connected all the time is scary. But I notice when I leave my phone at home I am much more relaxed and and free to pay more attention to this big beautiful world we live on. So I have deleted all of my apps that I could from my phone. No facebook, no instagram, no pinterest...... and once we get the money to get a home phone I will turn it off for good which means no more texting either! This will allow me more time with my kids without interruptions. So I can show them that the limits I set for them I also set for myself  (my husband is in on it too!) and that what they have to say is important enough for me to pay attention completely.

As parents need to get our coats and hats on even in the dregs of winter and take our kids for a walk at the very least. Go bird watching, find a wilder area like a state park and take a hike, look at the trees, find some really cool mushrooms, learn a few plants, teach that is is ok to get dirty, breathe fresh air, just sit in the peacefulness..... There is so much we can do away from screens and gadgets. It not only teaches them how beautiful this planet is and how our actions impact it, but it can teach them life lessons like going with the flow and sharing your harvest and skills with others who need it. Nature is amazing and filled with wonders our kids need to see! We need to slow down and reconnect with real people, wild places, and natural things. We need plant a seed of wildness in our children.

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things 

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

A tree we found in upstate NY.