When a child wakes up and immediately packs for a “backyard safari,” the correct answer is, “when are you heading out? And did you remember to pack a water bottle?”
As it turns out, this sweet boy desired an “adventure assistant” and asked Mommy to take the job as he was ready to head out the door. I was glad to drop other things and see the world through the wonder of his eyes. Every inch of creation is magical. This boy knows it in his bones. As he gazed around the field and forest through the binoculars, he gasped at one point: “Mommy! There are so many botanies out there!” and I suppressed my giggle enough to help him revel in the wonder of his epiphany. He was, after all, absolutely right.
He was beyond delighted to unearth an old rusted can of some sort, declaring it to be undeniable treasure. He pulled out almost every tool he had tucked into his backpack in order to dig it up and work at prying the sheets of metal apart in order to discover what the golden sheen hiding inside was made of. The slight tremor in his voice proved to me that he absolutely believed it was either elven magic or earthen gold. Eventually he said we should turn back home, treasure in hand, because he didn’t want anyone to worry about us.
Half a mile distance and half an hour’s time – that’s all it required. But who can think of the smallness of that reality when the wonderment was a thousand times bigger than that?! For five year old Simeon, we were on the other side of the world making discoveries never before touched by human hands.
Memo to self: remember to say yes to adventures with little ones.
For some excellent reading on this subject, I suggest Greta Eskridge‘s 2020 book, Adventuring Together. Such a beautiful testimony to the beautiful childhood we can encourage for the sake of our families just by saying yes to adventures ~ both big and small.