Here I am, haven't even finished regaling you with tales of all my tinkering camps and such (I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat), but can't help but jump ahead and crow about a Most Amazing Adventure I had the good fortune to go on last week. A pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming kind of week... City Museum in St. Louis, where I've been DYING to go for years and years and years! And camping in the Ozarks on the way.... So. Much. Fun.
Oh my gosh... I was just ruminating this evening and I realized that this is my FOURTH YEAR of doing camps. Wowza. I actually had to go back and check the ol' blog and sho nuff... I remember because Henny (who just turned 3) was two weeks old when I did my very first camp. It was insanity to book it around that time when she was scheduled to make her debut, but in my defense she was 2 weeks overdue (and I had assumed a 3rd child might even appear on the early side) AND I was just aflush with the amazement that people would actually entrust me with their children to do edumacational and/or camp-like activities, so I gave it a go (with a sleepy newborn in my sling, it wasn't too hard). And here I am four summers later doing more or less the same thing! It feels pretty amazing, because in all honesty it has been pretty madcap each summer when I've done camps. Doing a class is one thing, with a whole week in between each one to prep, but camp you really have to be ON IT... and with my own kids underfoot (no school)... it was all just kind of hair-raising. Somehow I managed it and I hope I won't jinx it when I say I feel like I have things kind of under control this summer. Well, that's easy to say now, with just one down and still four more to go, and it ALSO could be that this one seemed easy because I had so many special guests in to help me out, but.... this summer just might be THE summer that blows all other SUMMERS to SMITHEREENS.
I had the good fortune of getting to see this documentary last week. Of course it's utterly dismaying... kids these days spend 5- 15 hours per day plugged into a screen. They spend 90 percent of their time indoors. This film took 6 of these kids on a week long wilderness adventure. I'm not very good at writing movie reviews... if you'd like to read more about it Bernadette wrote a wonderful review at Slow Family Living.
Of course I already feel very strongly that kids should have lots and lots of unstructured time, preferably out of doors. Watching this film has brought it even more to the forefront of my mind, most especially my feeling that kids should grow up enjoying nature and feeling connected to nature. I see some of the best kind of tinkering happening when I take my kids down to the creek and all this wonderful work and play happens completely spontaneously and organically... working together to build a bridge or a dam, climbing trees, throwing rocks (lots and lots of rocks, please don't throw them at each other kids, that's the only deal breaker...)... I just feel that they are learning so much, that kind of learning that's hard to quantify, but includes cooperation and gauging distance and being aware of what your body is capable of... to name only a few. I mean, not like I have to tell you... I'm sure you already know. But obviously there's far too many people in charge who would rather we spend our afternoons running through flashcards and playing educational computer games, perhaps, for a treat.
Anyway, then I saw this (via the inspiring Jennifer Kable of Let the Children Play):
My friend had mentioned the idea of the kinderwald (forest school) to me once a long time ago. I loved the idea then, and now I'm just itching to start one. It just seems like an early experience of enjoying the natural world in all weather is just a really great set up for having a pretty deep connection with nature later in life. And if we're supposed to be raising our kids to be stewards of the earth and all that... seems like it would be a good idea. I know myself, although I happily and luckily spent lots and lots of time outdoors (and with SO much freedom, I feel very fortunate to say) I still have a feeling when it's grim and drizzly outside (or flat out chilly and pouring down rain)... just kind of a baseline feeling of claustrophobia and a little depression, like we're all just stuck inside and there's nothing to do. It would be neat to not feel like that... to just dress for chilly and damp ("There is not bad weather, just bad clothes") and go out and enjoy the world regardless of what's falling down from the sky or what's blowing in from the north.
Anyway, it's just an idea, but the yen, the yen is strong. And I already have our name and motto: Austin Kinderwald: Go Outside and Play. And it's not like we just have to sit outside in the pouring rain for days on end if that's the weather... we'll have a shelter, and we can string up tarps and make tents and go on field trips (and also definitely play with worms and splash in puddles and dig in the mud). Austin's weather is really so mild (except perhaps in summer, but then we can just go sit in Barton Springs all day) that it does seem like a very do-able idea. I'll just keep this one on at a simmer. And let me know if you've got a small, beautiful piece of land with a creek flowing through it and lots of nice trees to donate... let's talk.
Oh and of course, one more thing that Play Again made me have to confront about myself is my own addiction to screens (not TV, but who among us is not addicted to the internet in this day and age? It's such very tasty and immediate stuff) and what I model for my children. Gots to rein it in a little, lest this cautionary tale become my reality:
We are in paradise... the drought really really did end after all this rain... and it coincided perfectly with some crystalline, warm fall days, still warm enough to splash around and swim IN THESE CREEKS THAT HAVE BEEN DRY FOR TWO YEARS NOW!!!! This is so miraculous. I thought even if we got enough rain we might have to wait until spring. But praise be. And get thee down to the Greenbelt or Turkey Creek or Bull Creek or choose one from this fine assortment of creeks that Austin has to offer.... Truly Glorious.
All summer long we go down to our special spot on the Colorado River, at least once a week, to while away the hours. I still find it hard to believe that such an idyllic little wonderland is only ten minutes away from my house by car. It feels like a place you'd drive at least three hours out of town to get to. It's got it all... rocky beach, sandy beach, beautiful trees and tall beach-y grass and flowers (it feels like the beach to me), and beautiful clear gently rushing water that most of the time is only about knee deep (though at certain points they open the dam for the rice farmers down river, and that happens once or twice a day, though I think you may be able to check online when it's going to happen) (and the water rises and it all gets pretty deep).
We had a bit of a boy festival down there, as you can see. Except for just one spunky little soggy-diapered girl.
Here I am, haven't even finished regaling you with tales of all my tinkering camps and such (I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat), but can't help but jump ahead and crow about a Most Amazing Adventure I had the good fortune to go on last week. A pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming kind of week... City Museum in St. Louis, where I've been DYING to go for years and years and years! And camping in the Ozarks on the way.... So. Much. Fun.
