Work is an Important Part of Childhood

I strive to bring a playfulness to all we do, including our work.  We bring in songs while we work.  We make up games. Sometimes the focus on the activity at hand is all that is needed to love what one is doing.  Above all, I do my best to be worthy of a child's imitation.  Anything & everything that I do, I know will live deeply into the children that are in my presence, so I bring consciousness to my actions & my words.

Using real tools, allows the children to directly imitate working adults & also work on fine motor skills- screwdrivers, hammers, screws, nails, sand paper & hand saws are available in our tool box.  

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals.  We make bread from scratch, raw fruits & vegetables keep us cool in the summer & warming soups abound in the winter.  On this special occasion, we even used fruits & vegetables to create our own food coloring

We care for the earth.  Everyone tends to the work that needs to be done outside from carrying out compost, spreading pinestraw, gardening and more.

A Spontaneous Hike

J & I went outside this afternoon to play in the front yard.  But within minutes I knew that the great outdoors was calling us to venture past our sandbox.

We headed across the street in hot pursuit of a dragon that was heading down our neighbor's driveway.  Before I knew it, our dragon hunting led us through our neighbor's backyard & onto the nature trail that encircles our neighborhood's 53 acre lake - full of geese, ducks, egret & more.

As we tracked the dragon, I had occasional thoughts of turning back.  J is only 3 and our sponataneous hike had us without water, snacks, or my handy dandy Ergo for those times when a 3 year olds legs need a good long break.  But there was no stopping us.  We had found so many spots where the dragon had been destructive & these 2 brave knights would not be stopped.

Finally, the dragon dove down into the water, disappearing for quite some time and J & I decided that was ok, we wanted to walk the whole lake tonight - really!  My legs & patience were game - and I hoped J's were too.

Along the way we had visits from unicorns, dogs, geese, and more.

About half way around the lake I found jewelweed abounding!  I had been on a secret mission for this all along & while I had found some, this was the mother load.  I knew I would be returning in a few weeks to harvest the jewelweed & wildcraft myself some jewelweed salve for future encounters with poison ivy.

Then I turned around & looked across the lake - a huge Mimosa tree in full bloom.  Something else I had been on the hunt for - so I could make a calming mimosa tincture.  Yay!

As we were coming into 90 minutes of our adventure, we visited some of our favorite blackberry bushes for a snack to keep us going.  The dragon liked the blackberries very much.

Then it was back in civilaztion for awhile as we passed the pool & tennis courts.  We visited the water fountain.  Then sat down to watch a little tennis.

Soon we were delving back into the woods & the sun was setting.  We stopped by the mimosa tree & harvested some flowers.  J played in the creek.

Then lightning bugs led us the rest of the way home.

And all this started with just stepping outside for a minute.  I love my neighborhood.

Gardening with my love bugs

The fun is really beginning in our garden.  We watch the plants as they get bigger.  We harvest lettuces, kales & carrots (the carrots don't stand a chance of making it home).

 R has a magical way about her with all things living.  I love to watch her take a quiet moment in reverence.  She inspires me.

Observing Nature

Typically, we like to observe nature right where it belongs - in nature.  We know that the creatures that live outside reach their fullest potential when they are with Mother Nature.  Observing creatures in their natural habitat also gives the children a better understanding of the animals & gives them the truer picture versus the artificial life in captivity.
We saved this little guy from being snipped in two at a local organic farm.   The farmers must keep the pests under control for their crops to survive, but we couldn't stand by & watch him be killed.  We also knew that releasing him into the wild would kill him because he would no longer have access to his yummy food source.  So we made an exception & brought this little guy home along with some of his favorite treats.

Then we got to watch him make his beautiful transformation before wishing him luck & sending him back to Mother Nature.  

"Little caterpillar went looking for some lunch.  Crawling through the leaves, munch, munch, munch.  Made a little cocoon & wrapped himself inside and when he woke up,he was a beautiful butterfly."