By: Martianne Stanger
Okay, I admit it.
Some days I miss the freedom and adventure that life before children offered me.
Other days, I realize that life is still full of adventure: some quite simple and joy-filled and only experienced because I have children.
Case in point: the other day when my children and I stopped to stretch our legs, all I wanted was 30 minutes of fresh air and exercise, but my youngest had a contagious eye for adventure that brought joy to our afternoon.
No sooner had we pulled up near the place I had planned for us to walk than did my youngest child spy a vine and ask if he could test it.
“Sure!” I replied.
The next thing I knew, both my youngest and my middle children were swinging away.
Not long after, as we walked along a small bluff by the beach, my youngest child asked if he could climb up and down.
“Absolutely. Just be careful.” I said.
Again, he and his sister adventured while my oldest son took a moment to look out at the sea.
Later, as my daughter and I walked and talked, my oldest and youngest children walked on ahead, chatting away.
Seeing them, my heart swelled with joy.
Fresh air, exercise, fun, and relationship building. They all unfolded because of the eyes of my youngest child.
I never would have noticed the vine, the fun of the bluffs, or the full beauty of the day without my youngest child’s promptings.
What adventure awaits you through the eyes of a child?
Community Voices for Health 