Earth Day 2008

I'm a firm believer that one must truly know and love something in order to be believe strongly enough to protect, save and heal it. This philosophy guides the way we parent in so many different areas, and certainly our feelings and beliefs about the Earth are at the top of that. I truly want for my children to love and know the world around them, and as a byproduct, I know (and have already seen) that a sense of caring for it will evolve. I don't want to flood them with doom and gloom of the state of the world, but rather, mindfully give them information as they are ready - as they age, and as emotions mature. I think they know a lot about the state of things, but more than that, they really quite simply are in love with - and still getting to know - the Earth around them. I do think most children are...

So yesterday we celebrated Earth Day in a way that is similar to many days around here, I think - part action, part education, and a whole lot of living, loving and growing in the woods.

Their day ended with their first camp out under the stars. They prepared excitedly for it all afternoon - gathering everything they needed and playing out there. And when it was time for bed, they marveled at the mysteries in the dark around them, read a book by headlamp, and fell asleep.

We carried them in after that, because Mama has this silly little rule about sleeping outside without a tent when it's  only 35 degrees and there's still snow on the ground. But I do agree that Earth Day is, indeed, a wonderful night for dreaming under the stars. I'm glad there was some dreaming...

Comments

[Julie Alvarez]

Oh, lovely story!
I live in a city and it's very big, just enough to not let us have much of nature around us. But there's always something, trees for example. I love them so much. And my daughter does too...
We can find love allover, and find the capacity to love things and people, right inside us, just looking carefuly. So, we can love earth and care about it, even more strongly in such a needed place, like big cities. We need to take care of our home!
And kids are the most natural keepers.
Thank you for your post.

[melmo]

perfect, falling asleep outside and getting to have the comfort of your own bed. i'd love for someone to do that for me.

[Qalballah]

Ah...guided love can produce wonderful results. My boys have this ardent need to scream like dinosaurs and run after any creature to see if they can "catch" it (what they would do with it once they caught it hasn't really been thought through), but even though they are testosterone-driven maniacs Mama's reminders that everything feels pain is always there and I hear the eldest tell his friends "DON'T hurt that ant, it's Mummy will cry; you must be GENTLE!!" (and at this point he drives home the need for gentleness by throttling his friend away from the ant... hm...). I sometimes see the dark need to conquer and dissect surfacing, but by being out in the world I think what my boys show most is respect. Too young to worry them about the destruction, but young enough to get them to fall in love.

Nice post.
xx

[sarah]

I am so on the same page about this. I recently have written two posts about how children need to truly love their world before they can act on it:

Creating Hope for our Children: http://maymomvt.blogspot.com/2008/03/creating-hope-for-my-children.html

and

At the Pond:
http://maymomvt.blogspot.com/2008/04/at-pond.html

[blair]

What a gift you are giving to your children Amanda. Happy Earth Day!

[Kate]

What a perfect way to celebrate the earth and your philosophy is wonderful, thank you for the words. Every year I try to impart the same philosophy to my nature day camp staff, and you gave them a new voice that I will share with them to help foster this relationship with our campers and the world around them. To love first is the best way to see change and make a difference.

[jean]

that was my boy's first question. Did they SLEEP out there? someday. i can imagine the soulepeeps winter camping. still, falling asleep outside? heaven.

[Rachel]

It's wonderful that you instill such great values in your kids! Everyone makes a difference!

[cindylou]

What a lovely post, Amanda. My 5 year old and I took our cameras out and searched for birds. Ultimately, photos were also taken of clouds, trees, flowering bushes, and even the hills of our native fire ants. It was wonderful to see her truly appreciate all that is around us and reflect on what we've been blessed with. I have no doubts that when our kids grow up, the earth will be in the best of hands.

[Julia]

They look so happy to be out there. I love how every year gives us a chance to live first times again. First time for outside sleeping, a first time for planting something, a first time to really feel the sun melting all the winter cold out of our bodies.

[Meredith]

How sweet!

[Melanie J.]

First, thank you for The Creative Family. I read it cover to cover when I bought it this past weekend, and I don't even have kids yet. Such wonderful ideas! Second, love the campout concept; it brought to mind that when we do have kids, our little pup tent that we use for our rare camping excursions will make a great backyard playhouse...just gotta remember to move it occasionally so it doesn't ruin the grass :)

[Heather]

I love (and live by) the first sentence of your post. I appreciate hearing about other parents (and homelearners) who also believe this. I don't like to focus on doom and gloom either; but I admit that it does worry me that many children these days spend much of their time inside and/or in front of the TV and computer. I believe absolutely that if we don't feel truly connected to Earth/nature then we will not be invested in doing our best to live lightly on it. How can we feel concern for something if we don't really know it, feel it and understand it? Thanks you for such a great post, I think you inspire many people here.

[Sarah]

35 degrees and in t-shirts. you've got some tough kids!

[melissa s.]

my favorite childhood memories are falling asleep in our backyard under the stars. we lived in california though, so no 35 degree temps :-)

[lunemalo]

Maybe we're not only having a dream, but trying to make it come (a bit) true, day after day, little by little. Thank you for saying it out loud and simple.

[aujah]

How very sweet.

[sarah]

Beautiful. It looks like so much fun to sleep up there! we've been having some chilly evening gatherings around the outside firepit and it's so nice to sit out there and be silent under the stars. Happy Earth day!

[Jessica Keith]

That's awesome. I didn't talk about earth day, but we spent the day working in my parent's garden and then planting flowers at home, so I guess that counts. :)
This is totally off topic, but that little moose in the last picture was what Jeff bought Grant when he was born. He's recently named it "mookie mookie".

[Berlinswhimsy]

Oh, what a perfect way to celebrate the Earth. I'm feeling very guilty about not doing much around our parts but we have the excuse of suffering through a bad stomach flu. We'll have to catch up, I guess...

[Sara]

Thank you! Thank you for raising conscientious children! Thank you for being so very kind, and loving, and for letting your children breathe in the world around them with the expectation that someday they will exhale love and compassion.

I look to your blog as a guideline for the way I'd like to raise my son - the future I'd like him to have.

You're amazing.

Love,
Sara

[Eren]

I couldnt think of a better way to celebrate. It rained all day (hard!) here, so we splashed about, rescued earth worms from drowning and snacked inside. Happy Wednesday family!

[kosenrufu mama]

wonderful sleep in that house out in the night.... but as a mother myself, i agree with you, to cold to stay al night long....

[emilykristin]

that is so wonderful, and I certainly agree - to protect and truly care for something we must know and experience it. Someone in my recent Living in Creation class said, "information does not equal formation." That takes walks and experiences and stories and involvement.

[fiona]

Hi Amanda,
First wanted to say that I love your book! Got it yesterday and it's already been read cover to cover. Thank you for sharing your wonderful philosophy, both on your blog and in the book. Even as a 20 year old who has no intention of thinking about having children yet, I found so much in your book that is relevant to all of us for day-to-day living.

[Kristina]

It is so magical to sleep out under the stars! Our family celebrated Earth Day by walking a 1 mile section of our rural road and picking up all of the trash. It was so much fun!

[brit]

you have such a beautiful way of saying things, that always fills me with joy. I get tired of the doom and gloom and I don't think it is a good motivator. For adults or for children, love should be what motivates us to be the best we can and thanks you for your words that always helps to organize my thoughts.

[Sara]

Thank you for honoring Earth Day on your blog. I really like how you said not to flood them with doom and gloom. Instead just teaching them to love and care for their enviroment. We honored Earth Day yesterday by carpooling to school with two other friends. A couple less cars on the road. :)
-Sara

[Amy]

What a perfect way to celebrate Earth day!Your words and photos continue to inspire me, so thank you for that :)

[Claudia]

What a great idea! And what a great mom!

[Alicia]

What a wonderful idea! Saving it to my Earth Day file. It actually warm enough here that that could work for an all night concept with a little planning next year.

[Mary Beth]

I love this post, Amanda, and what a sweet picture at the end.

[Caroline Inckle]

I really agree with what you said about not overwhelming kids with doom and gloom , but instead instilling them with a sense of wonder and love for the world around them. We had our own little out door adventure this weekend when we took our rikety old caravan out for a jaunt, lovely....
Caroline
X
http://carolineinckle.wordpress.com/

[Kelli]

Soulemama you never cease to amaze me and put something so complicated so simply. We planted grass seed on a spot that used to have a pool on top of it. I forgot to take pictures!!! A little like you get in front of people I suppose. My four year old told me she knows a lot about what makes things grow- Love and water. So glad it rained today.

[Alyson]

I can't believe they feel asleep!! my kids would have been waaaay too excited!! Well, that and the fact that we have waaay too many coyotes around.

[Sharon]

Excellent way to celebrate Earth Day! Beautiful, loving and mindful (and fun!). My daughter is the most joyful when she is outdoors...I almost expect to see her sprout wings and flutter about. She has such faith that we can make a difference and protect our Earth. I love that. It gives me faith.

[Steph]

Hi, I'm a longtime "lurker" of your blog. I love it, but I don't think I have ever commented! Anyhow, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your lovely earth day post today. It sounds like you had a great day. You seem like such a great parent.

[mrs. adrienne K.]

i just got my copy of the creative family in the mail!!im in love with it!!! thank you for such a wonderful book!! i am the mother of 2 little girls (2 years and 3 months) i am a firm believer in fostering creativity in children. growing up i was always creating ,either with arts an crafts of in my everyday play. a funny thing happened today, my mother brought over this newspaper clipping for me about creative play with children, and there i was with my new book...it showed me that creativity IS indeed a family tradition for us...any how, thank you again for such a wonderful book! blessings to you and your family!
<3
adrienne K.

[Mrs. Flinger]

I'm completely inspired! I'm ordering your book right now. I run a teeny tiny segment on http://mamaspod.com where I do the craft for the family. I'm thrilled to use your book as a reference. I'll be sure to give a shout out to you. Thank you so much!!

[jmbmommy]

Lovely--I was so impressed that they would snuggle in out there--and I thought that you were so brave to let them (I like that you added that you brought them in) Thanks so much for your book, it is truely well done, I love reading it slowly. Thanks for spending so much time with your family and writing about it, people need to read books like this.

[asti]

How lovely....glad you bought them in though! I was thinking wow, it must warm up really quickly over there!

[Marie]

I love the activities that you do or let your kids do. You are so in tune with what really matters and giving your kids a quality childhood. I really admire your parenting and your artistic creations.

[Madeline Rains]

Your kids are so lucky to be growing up with parents who let them start a sleep out on a cold Maine night and then save them from it. You guys are reading teh same book we are - Little Town on the Prairie. Aren't you so excited for Laura to really connect with Almanzo. :)