Forced Fun

During Christmas, my dad pointed out that it sounded as though these days, parenting was about, “resisting, giving in and then restricting electronics for your kids.” I was asking him for batteries for a new gizmo for my son, as I rationalized the gift. I realized how many times I had described version to my dad in the last year, as I pulled out the portable DVD player or looked under a couch for a missing Leapster cartridge.

My dad was absolutely right.

Five minutes later in the Puget Sound sleet, I marched my son and husband out for a beach walk. I was met with reasonable resistance early on, but once we were out there exploring everything the storm had washed up, it couldn’t have been a more spectacularly grey, wet and glorious winter day the Northwest.

And, the commonly held believe that instilling kids with Leave No Trace concepts is relevant environmental insurance was never more apparent. Even in the cold, my son instinctively picked collected plastic bottles and other flotsom among the driftwood and shells. That night at dinner, he dedicated one of the candles he was lighting to less trash. At that moment, all was well in the world.