Getting outdoors with children is extremely important. I will not go down the rabbit hole of research about the benefits of being exposed to nature for all people but there is plenty of evidence of the benefits in children. As it pertains to my own life it has been hugely important for me to be in the outdoors surrounded by mother nature. The impacts that it has on me mentally, emotionally and physically are quite evident. In most cases the mental and emotional effects are immediate and I find myself craving the experiences. I see these same things in my only child, my daughter, who I try to take on as many outdoors adventures as she will allow me. Often, she does not want to go and hems and haws about it, all the wonderful things that come with a fourteen year old daughter, but once she is out there she has so much fun. The key is you have to meet them on their terms.
Over Easter weekend I had the opportunity to remind myself of this very important point of parenting. We finally got the camper out after entirely too many months passing between trips. This trip took us to southern Appalachia at the northern end of the Blue Ridge parkway. Been a lot of years since I’ve been in that part of the world. Found a really nice national forest campground to set up camp and spend that Saturday exploring. Got a few short hikes in and some sightseeing along the parkway. Was a lot of fun and much needed outside time away from it all. Of course, my daughter, and my wife too, were none too happy about the lack of cellphone service at the campground. Was not until we were out and about at higher elevations that we were able to find some service.
Throughout the day my daughter was on her phone quite a bit. She even had her airpods in listening to music. Least it was in French, she’s taking French in school, and she was doing a bit of learning by immersion. Some might want to lose their cool and tell their kid to put their devices away but I refined even though I wanted to. On the last little hike, it was just my daughter and I for a short hike up a section of the Appalachian Trail to an overlook. At the top I was looking out over the view from the overlook and I saw my daughter yet again on her phone. It kind of reminded me Marines trying to find service at Camp Wilson. If you know you know. Anyways, as I was looking at her, I was reminded about an article I read a long time ago, the author and publication evades my memory, that spoke about getting you children in the outdoors. One of the main points was about meeting them on their terms.
I thought back to all the adventures we have had over the last several years. Especially over the last two years here in Virginia. My daughter always makes a big deal about not being excited about going out on our trips, whether they are a long weekend or day trips, but in the end, she always has fun. She likes to see the cool things that we see out there in the wild places and is always taking pictures. What I was reminded of is that our children are born into the digital age. I was not so it is difficult to relate. However, I take a camera with me everywhere I go be it hunting or our family trips and turn all that content into videos for YouTube. I would be pretty hypocritical to give her a hard time about her phone. What I have to remember is that she is making her own memories in her way and having a good time doing it. Often, she is taking pictures and sending them to her friends or sending them a text about how annoying her dad is being making stupid dad jokes all day. Just like me she is navigating her experience in the outdoors in her way and enjoying it along the way.
The point of this whole thread is that if we want to get our children outside then we have to make sure we do it the right way. They are tied to their digital world. So let them bring natural and digital worlds together. Today, more than ever, we need to get our children and ourselves outside more often. If we do not allow ourselves to meet our children on their terms then we risk pushing them away from the joys of exploring the outdoors. Fortunately for me I read that article a long time ago and put it into practice even though I had forgotten about the article itself. My hope is that you read this and do the same even if you forget about this blog. So get out there and listen to some French music as you wander done the next trail!
