The Quest for Fire and Other Practical Outdoor Skills

[lawchicky819]

Not to sound like an old geezer, but.. kids today, are generally not well versed in the outdoors. Don't get me wrong, my five year old loves riding around on his tricycle, but it's nothing like 100 years ago, when kids were expected to wrangle a whole slew of outdoor chores on their own. I think less and less people are exposing their children to nature, and that's a shame.

This is why my boys are all enrolled in cub/boy scouts. During Covid, we've had to eliminate a lot of extracurricular activities (dance/theater, hockey, track and field), but scouting is something we can do outdoors and socially distanced. My brother-in-law is an eagle scout, and my baby brother is working on his eagle scout project now, so my sons have something to aspire to. My eldest has his heart set on becoming an astronaut, so we took special note of the eagle scout exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.

Now, there are many times when my boys would rather stay home and play video games, but being the adult here, I coax them into leaving the house and they're usually glad we did it by the end. My five year old is especially excited that he is enrolled this year. He has his navy "Lions" tee shirt and hat, and he went to his first meeting last Wednesday. We were trying to teach him how to use a compass, which was.. comical. I guess he will get the idea eventually. My Weblo used a sewing machine (I've never learned how to use one myself!) and talked about what you need to bring along for a hike. My oldest son just moved up to the boy scouts program. He looks terribly small compared to the 16-17 year old boys, but they have been taking him under their wing and praised him on his soccer skills. Boy scouts learn some much more serious skills, which is actually pretty cool. My son has dipped his toes into getting merit badges in space exploration, photography and geology. We're looking forward to working on badges that involve camping and making our way through the outdoors. I'm really hopeful that in a few years, I'll have sons ready and able to pitch their tents and build a fire! Until then, I guess I'm responsible for opening up our fireplace and laying out some s'mores ingredients in the living room.

I'd love to chat some more about scouting, but we're actually scheduled to hike with the scouts this afternoon and I need to prepare some snacks and rain gear, and maybe some wool socks for myself. The things we go through to try to make our kids well rounded!

Comments

[bleodswean]

Yay for scouting and the glorious outdoors!!! And s'mores in the living room! (You have an extra "not" in your first line.) It's good to hear that you're enjoying these adventures both directly and vicariously!

[bsgsix]

Hello, ASAGAN!! :)

Sounds like you've been busy during the madness that has been 2020, and it's nice to hear about what you and the kids have been up to!

We have recently moved to a very outdoorsy-type area, where it's popular to sail, jet ski, and do outdoor tasks like mowing acres of land, cutting down weeds, burning brush piles, and so forth. I, personally, love it, but you're right - my kid, having grown up in a more city-like atmosphere, has had to adapt. But he has, and he's done so very well. He's always loved coming down to this area to visit, so living here is a dream for him. But it's good to be exposed to nature, and I think that, for a lot of people, it's very soothing and grounding.

And hey, nothing wrong with being the person who brings the ingredients for s'mores. Someone has to provide the love. :)

[adoptedwriter]

Yay for Scouts! Yeah...There's a term for this issue: Nature Deficit Disorder. It's a thing and COVID-19 has made it worse b/c ppl fear going out or they are stuck inside working all the time, skipped vacations, etc. Glad you are part of the solution. We do the same thing when we have grandpeople here.

[uselesstinrelic]

Sometimes you just have to get creative. I commend your efforts! (My most MacGyvered outdoor experience was roasting marshmallows on a candle on a dresser. :> )

[gunwithoutmusic]

Yay Asaga! I liked that both of our entries this week had similar themes; it really does feel good once you get out in the outdoors, even if it sometimes takes a little bit of a push to get there. I'm like your boys a lot of times, "No I'd rather stay home and play video games all day," but when I get that push to go out on a hike or something, I always feel so much better afterwards. I'm almost at that point where I don't really have to push myself to start. :)

[eeyore_grrl]

I think pitching a tent and making fire is a good thing. I was looking at my ten year son the other day and seeing how young and small he looked compared to the way I felt at his age. And I realize things like; I had to help chop wood, occasionally. Even though I was terrible at it I was wielding an axe on my own. My kid is much more suburban and the idea of handing him an axe terrifies me.

[lawchicky819]

I think some of the best things we do in our lives initially start out as scary or worrisome or just "too big" to want to start. That's part of what makes it feel so good when you accomplish them.

[lawchicky819]

I've written before about how I was kind of an "indoor child." We grew up in a condominium, so we didn't have a yard or anything, and when we were pretty young, my brother was hit by a car while riding his bike. So my mom did not like us to be out and about without a watchful eye after that.

It's a shame because for all that sheltered time, I later learned that I love the outdoors quite a bit.

[megatronix]

I saw just above that you were an indoor child and were kind of sheltered from the outdoors. Me too! A little girl was kidnapped about 4 minutes away from where we lived, and my mom was like OH HELL NO after that. On top of that, I have a massive allergy to fireants, and I grew up in Texas, and they're everywhere. So my mom was quite overprotective. But I love the outdoors. Sadly, I don't think I spend enough time outside, nor does my kid, but we'll work on changing that.

Also, s'mores in the living room sounds lovely!

It'll be so great when your kids are pitching tents and starting the campfires. It's great they're learning the building blocks of all that now.

[minikin25]

I loved scouting. Hiking, campfires, learning new skills — all of it.

[n3m3sis43]

I lovedddd Girl Scouts so much and learned a lot from being a part of it. For... reasons, I don't have Max in Boy Scouts. This post made me a little sad that I don't; kids can grow so much by being a part of scouting. Thanks for sharing this!

[halfshellvenus]

I'm glad your boys are still able to do this, with COVID going on. The entry I didn't choose for this week was in part about Girl Scouts, which is still such a different animal from Boy Scouts in terms of emphasis. I wish more of it involved the outdoors and outdoor competence, but it's so troop-dependent and usually doesn't come until later.

Our son was a Boy Scout for exactly one year when he was 5. He was one of the youngest Kindergarteners in his den, and meetings were usually at 7pm... when his bedtime was 7:30. Oh, but it did not go well. He basically crabbed and groused his way through the experience because he desperately wanted to go to the year-end summer camp event with his dad.

He made it through, and had a wonderful time at camp. He just loved it. But then he was done. I guess the tradeoff wasn't worth it, and we couldn't persuade him that it might get better over time. Sad, because he has always loved the outdoors and still loves camping and hiking. But all of that STRUCTURE? Oh, hell no!

I'm so glad you're outdoorsy yourself. That goes a LONG way toward opening up experiences for your kids. :)

[murielle]

Yes to Scouting in all its stages! And yes they learn so much more. And yes to keeping this activity going.

Yes to this entry, too.

[flipflop_diva]

If we had a fireplace, I would totally be making s'mores there.

I'm glad you all are able to continue with the scouting! It's good to be able to still do something these days!

[alycewilson]

It's so fun to see your children walking down parallel paths to my KFP. He hasn't used a sewing machine yet, but he has learned how to sew recently because of Cub Scouts, too. His Cubmaster started a fundraiser to sell "ear savers" to use with masks: a little ribbon with buttons on either end that the ear loops of a mask can slide over and take pressure off the earlobes. He said he really enjoyed sewing the buttons on.

We only recently started doing outdoor activities again with our pack. It's been so great to see those kids and parents in person again, even with the new restrictions.