Letting Children Learn

What happens when you offer kids some fresh air and adventure?
Why they dive into it with their whole hearts. They just need a place to have adventures safely and to let themselves discover their limits both physically and mentally.

Okay. Well let me say, that today we decided to take a hike down the newly made ridge road that was made on our property.
At the creek, the kids decided that the creek on the other side of fence looked way more adventurous and inviting than hiking up a dirt trail.
After all there was water to walk in and rocks to look at.

Heck. I always choose to walk the creek bottom.

*Can we go that way Grandma?*
Of course.
And we did.

I warned them a couple of times about getting in too deep and that the walk home would be pretty squishy and cold on their feet if the got themselves wet.

One thing struck me right away that was different about taking children on a hike like this. Oh, I've been down this creek perhaps a few hundred times in the past 15 years, normally by myself or with my current dog.

I saw things with fresh 'child-like' eyes.

I noticed that Morris was the ever faithful and vigilante little dog.
The kids were never far from where he could keep an eye on them.
He kept trotting to Ariel and then to Dennis, keeping a check on their status. When Dennis accidentally fell in the creek, Morris was right there.

When Ariel sat on a log with a long face and had a 'moment', Morris was right there, trying to lick her tears. To which annoyed Ariel enough so that she forgot whatever sudden sorrow overcame her [probably tiredness and berry briers]...and she stopped.
At one point I let the kids know that we had reached a point where we should turn around or face taking a long and more difficult way home.
They opted for the long and difficult way.

Determined to let my grandchildren learn, I decided not to argue and see what would happen.

To say the least, they did learn that not only did Grandma and Morris know all the trails, but that we hiked them often and with ease.
That the trails were not like the Dozer trail at all. They were difficult yet intriguing.

As Dennis learned while jumping and taking 'air'!
Most of all I hope that this may be the first of many Grandma and Grandchild hikes...and that we don't always take the easy way and discover what we are made of.
I'm one pretty tickled Grandma.