Experiencing Nature With Your Child

Along with love, there is no better gift you can give a child than appreciation for the world in which he or she lives. One great way to teach this concept is to show your child that you appreciate everything from the big (roof over your head) to the little things (the dandelion she picks for you on a walk).

As I've mentioned in a previous blog, I love to spoil my daughter...but I also try to show her the value of being grateful. We have always tried to show her the value of nature in her life as a place of restoration, exploration, learning and also of appreciation of its sheer beauty. We planned this summer's vacation to be a nature adventure with destinations of the desert, mountains, and ocean. However, when she realized we would be in Los Angeles she asked to go to Disneyland - I was tempted to adjust our plans to include Disney because I love it myself. But after re-visiting the meaning of our trip we decided to leave plans as they were and skip the amusement parks - this time. Instead we have had the chance to swim in a lake surrounded by desert and Buttes (mini mountains), hike in a desert canyon/mountain area, visit a desert museum where she touched a snake (ick!) and saw many different plants and animals native to the desert, climb through a cave replica, drive for hours watching the mountains rise and falls, witness a snow-caped mountain in the middle of a desert, see a sea of thousands windmills harnessing and converting wind into workable energy, spend a day on the beach playing in the waves and the sand, and watch a fiery, magical sunset over the mountains of Albuquerque followed by the spontaneous light show of a desert lightning storm. Every one of these experiences brought her closer to nature and as a result brought her a deeper appreciation of the world around her.

Many times on the trip she suddenly stopped what she was doing and hugged Scott or me and said, "Wow, thank you for taking me to see that (sunset, beach, mountain, cactus, etc)!"  Nature is humbling and uplifting at the same time; hmmm, just like parenting!  It is wonderful to see your child take in and love nature because you know that it will foster a life of respecting and exploring the world.

To all of your shared sunsets!

Emily A. Filmore
blog.withmychildseries.com
http://www.withmychildseries.com/