There is a magical place I take my kids each summer.
Yesterday, I dropped one of my four off for his 3rd year at Gwynn Valley Camp in Brevard, NC. I not only saw but felt the magic of slow, of nature beauty, of camp. And it pierced my heart so deep....I cried.
Teared up right there in the darn business office waiting for the gal to copy my insurance card. Silly me. What is 'this' about? I asked myself, only having been on campus for 5 minutes.
Just a slow drive down the lane with 7 1/2 mph sign, creek on one side, expanse of tall grass field on other with wild horses roaming, a jolly greeting by a fella from the UK and a short walk down the road with signs for foot traffic only.
Why was I so teary already? The therapy of green, of horses and smiles coupled with kindness and wide open spaces and the smell of lush greenery touched my soul like a warm fatherly hand on my shoulder. It was an invitation to be human, to rest and soak up the simple things in life in a community of families from literally all over the world. And I felt like I could unpack my bag and stay for a spell.
But its his turn.
His chance to revel in this magical place called Gwynn Valley.
His turn to make pottery, candles, baskets even. To splash in the pond, to sing silly songs.
To feed milk to baby goats from a bottle, hold chicks, harvest carrots & potatoes & broccoli from the farm. To make new friends, to grow and stretch and be challenged some. To go creek hiking, kayak if he wants or just catch crawl dads in the creek.
In a recent conversation with my sister, who has her Masters degree in Early Childhood Development, we skimmed the surface of how rushed children (even our own at times) are these days, how competitive parenting has become and the challenges of raising healthy & whole kids... mind, body & spirit in a world full of both beauty & yucky.
I'm spoiled to have a childhood/ parenting goroo for a sister and friend.
I realized how I'm finally in the place in my life where I am thankful for the 2 earthquakes that led me to an about face in my career 15 years ago. Being diagnosed with a chronic disease at 21 and then delivering my second son, William as a stillborn and placing his body in my Moms butterfly garden made me face my immortality and what truly matters in the long run earlier than most do I reckon.
And this place seems to embody it all...all that I've stumbled to piece together in my life and the lives of our little crew.
After I fell apart and died a silent death with my William, I birthed fresh steps toward simplicity, toward a life lived with margins on the page and mostly out of doors. Ground my wheat & made our own bread. Said "No" to a 2 family income and "Yes" to less.
Yes to lingering meals with my husband and each child that was added. Yes to walks and hikes and bike rides. Yes to books and learning to raise bees and chickens.
As I walk through campus taking pictures after making his bed and chatting with counselors I am struck by how blessed we are to have a treasure like this right here in our own little town.
And I glory in the unique opportunity my kids have to come and be a kid surrounded by other kids both big and small, cause geese-louise those counselors even seem happy to be at a job where they are being fully human and not glued to a screen. To be living in reality in this haven of a spot for both workers and campers alike.
Grant and Anne Bullard have created not only fertile soil for hundreds of pounds of food to grow each year on the 320 acres they own but also fertile soil for thousands of pounds of goodness to sprout and grow in kids souls.
A safe place for good work to be done each day. A place to do your chores in the cabin, to be among peers without the 'whose who' of their own friends, a place to be fully alive without even the option of screen time.
And. It. Is. A. Marvelous. Place.
If you've never seen first hand this little piece of heaven, I invite you to come take a look.
This place embodies one of the most shaping books I have read over the last 12 years as a parent called Last Child in the Woods. Here is the skinny on the meat of what Richard Louv found out when researching kids and their worlds today.
'Last Child in the Woods'
'Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder"
by Richard Louv
"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged in and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation-he calls it nature deficit-to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder and depression.
The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solution, though, and they're right in our own backyards.
'Last Child in the Woods' is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development-physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature.
This old water wheel still works. It powers the gears that grind corn to make corn meal. The children take a colander and sift out grass & ants from the corn kernels, atleast that is what my 7 year old told me. Then they fill sacks with the freshly ground cornmeal and carry the sacks to the kitchen for grits in the morning.
Bonfire wood and benches just waiting for boys & girls to gather round and linger right outside their cabin. Something that we do often as a family, but how wonderful for my kids to have these experiences with their peers.
After driving down the one lane road and parking, these are the signs that meet you before walking down the lane that smells of fresh dew & mountain laurel... your entrance to camp.
The words bid me to s l o w.
Slow down.
Exhale.
Cause sometimes, we need a sign that just clearly says, "SLOW DOWN MAMA!" "These are little persons your dealing with. They need fresh air, conversation, time to 'be'." How we forget this as Mamas & Daddies I don't know. Call it stress or fatigue or what have you. But young and old alike need a talking to sometimes.
I've even had a few with my kids grandparents in my head lately on long jogs alone and on teary days when I feel so alone in the world. "Stay still. Make space for us will you? The shaping is not only in the holidays, but in the every days, the ordinary days. My kids are people that need role models not on stages but in real life, and I want you to be one of them. But that takes time."
And lastly, here is the skinny on my second all time favorite, most helpful parenting books. I hope you'll consider finding a copy & reading whether your kids are babies or teenagers.
The Hurried Child
'growing up too fast too soon'
by David Elkind
With the first edition of The Hurried Child, 'growing up too fast too soon' David Elkind emerged as the voice of parenting reason, calling our attention to the crippling effects of hurrying our children through life. He showed that by blurring the boundaries of what is age appropriate, by expecting-or imposing-too much too soon, we force our kids to grow up too fast, to mimic adult sophistication while secretly yearning for innocence.
In the more than two decades since this book first appeared, new generations of parents have inadvertently stepped up the assault on childhood, in the media, in schools, and at home. In the third edition of this classic Dr. Elkind provided a detailed, up-to-the-minute look at the Internet, classroom culture, school violence, movies, television, and a growing societal incivility to show parents and teachers where hurrying occurs and why.
And as before, he offered parents and teachers insight,
advice and hope for encouraging healthy development while protecting the
joy and freedom of childhood. In this 25th anniversary edition of the book, Dr. Elkind delivers important new commentary to put a quarter century of trends and change into perspective for parents today.
And if you'd like to see a little video of the place...here you go.
