Last week, my husband Andy and I took our four youngest girls away on holiday. We spent a few days at a salt water lake, swimming, kayaking and making sandcastles.

Two of my girls are young adults, but they were just as keen to make sandcastles as their younger siblings.

“Will they ever grow up?” joked Andy as we sat on the sand watching our girls. “Will our daughters be making sandcastles forever?”Later, I told Imogen, our 21-year-old daughter, what Andy had said. “I’m never going to grow up if it means I can no longer make sandcastles,” she replied. “Why can’t adults do childish things? I don’t want to sit on the sidelines like most adults and be an observer rather than a participator. I want to keep trying new things, be silly, have fun, just like I did as a child.”

I know what Imogen means. I once went to a homeschooling sports carnival. When it came time for the mothers’ race, most of the mothers refused to get up off their chairs and run. They folded their arms and shook their heads: “I’m not going to run.”

I didn’t want to run either. And I wasn’t going to until I saw the look of disappointment on my daughters’ faces. Then I decided to be a daring and adventurous mother. I was going to try. Maybe I would even have fun.

I lined up with the other daring mothers. The race began. I ran. I felt the wind blowing through my hair while I flew through the air. I imagined racing over the finish line and claiming the prize. I could just see the proud looks on my children’s faces. Their mother had run and won the race!

But then it all went wrong. My feet slipped from beneath me and I fell splat on the ground. Someone kindly picked me up and dusted me down. And then I crept back to the sidelines, my face bright red, hoping no one was watching me.My family gathered around me. They asked me if I was hurt. Then they told me how proud they were of me.”You were willing to run, Mum. You gave it a go. You were amazing.”That day I decided I’d become a daring and adventurous mother. I would no longer make excuses. I wouldn’t worry about making mistakes. Did it matter what other people might think of me? No. I was going to have fun.I tell this story in this week’s podcast, episode 81: Are You a Daring and Adventurous Parent? I also talk about:

• strengthening bonds between spouses
• finding a balance between family life and work
• how a parent’s fears can hold back a child
• being silly as a family
• some of the stories in my children’s novel, ‘The Angels of Gum Tree Road’
• guest posting. Would you like to write an article for my blog?
• essay writing. Do our kids need to practise essay writing just in case they want to go to university?
• my new videos on my Youtube channel
• and lots of other things!

 

Show Notes

Blog Posts

Of Babies and Bombs
Would You Like to Be My Guest?

Blog

Carter’s blog, Copasetic Flow

Youtube

My channel: Sue Elvis
My new videos:
A New Series of Unschooling Videos
Parenting Teenagers: Why I Don’t Make Rules
Unplanning Notebooks for Strewing and Unschool Record Keeping
How We Can Trust Kids and Dogs: An Unschooling Story
Imogen’s channel: Imogen Elvis
Imogen’s latest music video: Safe and Sound
Peter Hollens‘ channel

Michael Hyatt

Website

My New Children’s Novel

The Angels of Gum Tree Road: Kindle ebook

My Podcast

on iTunes
on Podbean
How to Write a review or leave a rating in the iTunes Store or App Store
My podcast blog posts

Podcast music

60’s Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)

 
So are you a daring and adventurous parent? I bet most unschoolers are!