...okay, so the challenge has had mixed results and I'm not really sure if the message I intended to get across to my 4-year-old audience really got through, but if I've learned one thing from kids it's that sometimes the lesson that they learn ends up being better than the one you thought you taught.
A recent text message from his mommy: "Shawn has been telling everyone about how we slept outside of home. And about the frog we caught. And peeing in the bush cause we couldn't (weren't allowed to) go in the house... and brushing his teeth outside the tent... "
I know, I know.. it wasn't supposed to be a camping trip, it was supposed to be a learning experience- but sometimes the best class doesn't take place in a room. Sometimes the best tool a teacher has is not chalk, rather engagement. I've seen it in over and over again during Kicks Projects... on futbol pitches in South America, on converted cow pastures in East Africa- it's what Kicks is all about: using soccer to teach life lessons. I've just learned tonight, via text from a diligent mommy, that somehow this whole Kicks Challenge did have an impact on one little boy- maybe it wasn't exactly the lesson that we were aiming for, but the door is open- maybe this first Kicks Challenge was a success after all. Maybe the challenge wasn't really the lesson- but the reading of the lesson. After all, sometimes just getting their attention is a great success for a teacher.
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This was such a great experience for all of us. Going into the day I really did not know what to expect, but as usual no matter where we are we always have fun together.
ReplyDeleteReally from packing minimal needs to waking up out side with the sounds of nature was all enjoyable. I feel that no matter where we are what makes the comfort you find in a home comes from the people that your surrounded by. With Shawn and Mike mext to me I felt safe, happy, stressfree and lots of love.
Sometimes its great to step out from the normal routine and look at the situation and all that we have from a different view. Being outside and knowing that the things surround you are what you have and restricting yourself from materialistic things helps you to find other ways to be happy, the real things that make you happy.
Really 10 years, 20 years, 100 years ago people did not have nearly as many luxuries as we do today and somehow our ancestors survived. just like individuals around the world that have less than you or I. Some how they manage, we keep on moving becoming stronger and I feel it is the people around us that keep us going to survive and make us happy, make us have a worth, make us feel loved.
We are all very lucky with the world/ environment we live in, but my wish is that people never lose sight of the things that really matter. We can all wake up in a fancy house, get ready for our big deal job, drive there in a fancy car. Are all those things what really make us happy? At the end of the day are you happy? It is the moments that happen in between that make me happy. I want to work to live, not live to work. And i don't want to ever miss a moment that i may not have the chance to experience again.
While sleeping outside was only for a night and i do have a house to go back to thankfully, i do know that it is the special people i share my life with that make me happy no matter what we have or where we are. It was wonderful to put everthing else aside, clear my mind and enjoy the quiet of the nightjust talking, enjoying each others company, and in the morning waking to birds and rising to the sun.
CARA