I was naive to the burden of responsibility that would take up residence on my shoulders when I came home from the hospital with that first little miracle bundle of baby. The list of things I can influence for good or evil has only grown since that first day and then multiplied by three: manners, character, education, relationship skills, discipline, healthy eating habits, love or disdain for the outdoors…sometimes it feels so overwhelming.
Ever feel that way, too? Maybe this quote I stumbled on in Peter Hoffmeister’s excellent book Let Them Be Eaten By Bears, will speak to you as it did to me one day:
“Kids want to be outside. They love the sun, moon, stars, animals, trees, leaves, watching the rain, watching the hail, and catching bugs in their hands. So you don’t have to give them a love for the outdoors. They’re born with that love. But indoor behaviors and habits can wean kids off of their natural love of the outdoors. We, as parents, can help them learn to dislike the natural world. We can help them fear weather and distrust animals. But that’s an environmental reaction, not a biological one. Children begin their lives with love.”
When I read that, I felt a huge burden lift! Instead of a salesman, trying so hard to convince my kids that time in the great outdoors is meaningful, beautiful, fun, important, worthwhile, and so awesome they will have no choice but to be nature lovers all their lives, I am charged with simply getting out of the way. My job is not creating the love–it is simply trying not to kill it. The difference is subtle, but so significant!
Choosing the positive response isn’t always easy, nor does it comes naturally to all of us. But this is where Hike it Baby is so valuable! We plan to get on a trail weekly, demonstrating that hiking is important enough to be on the calendar. We go regardless of the weather. We go even when it feels like we are never going to get out the door and to the trail on time. We go knowing there will be messes, meltdowns, and mud. But we also go knowing there will be more mud, memories, and magic. And every welcome circle, every trail hiked with friends, every park and play or special event serves a much larger, much bigger purpose. One hike at a time we are showing our kids they should not fear winter, or the cold, or the rain, or gray skies. We are intentionally choosing outdoor habits. With every hike, we are preserving the love.
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