Nature and Risk

First, I wanted to report that we braved the heat to go to the River festival, and had a great time!  We all took a pedal boat ride and saw the hugest snapping turtle I have ever seen.  Seriously, shell the size of a medium pizza, and head the size of a softball!  It's head was emerged for air in front of us, and it ducked under our boat as we came upon it, so we got a good look at it.  I described it to the people at the turtle booth at the festival, and they said that it was most likely a snapper.  Yikes!  Right after that, we saw people who were trying out those paddle boats that you stand on, sitting on their boards with their legs dangling in the water.  The kids had fun trying out fishing, though unfortunately, no one caught anything.

As we were walking to the island for fishing, we came upon a fallen tree that made a fine jungle gym for the kids.  I couldn't help but notice that other parents passing by had down-cast eyes, and were saying, "No" to their kids.  The kids saw my kids enjoying the tree, but their parents would not let them climb it.  It left me wondering what we have come to.  It seems our society has a hard time trusting children lately, and we have a hard time letting them take risks.  We are saturated with helicopter parents, and fear Child Protective Services, who may be called if we let our 8-year-olds go to the park down the street unattended.  (Yes, that was a real story).

Luckily, a week or so later, I came upon the perfect article, without looking for it.  It spoke just to what I was upset about.  That day at the river fest, I felt like an outcast, or a radical parent (with a little twinge of pride, I must say).  But in the end, it only encouraged me to say "yes" more than "no," especially when it comes to my children wanting to try something that involves a risk.