On intentionality, nature and racing gocarts

Imagination and nature at play 💙

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I could slap a whimsical, scholarly quote and a few dozen hashtags here to further promote just how free range and fulfilled our children are. But in full disclosure, they all spent the morning on the couch, racing one another on MarioKart- cheering, jeering and generally having a time. So, there’s that.

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As a parent it’s often easier for me to lean toward the hard and fast, the firm rules of yay or nay, the free-for-all or the none-at-all. The moderation of a thing requires my presence and mindfulness and there are many a day, I simply resent the role of rule-maker and enforcer. •
Over the years I have come to learn regardless of strategy, there is intentionality to my parenting. Even on my silent days, on the “I am just too tired to care” days, I am choosing to parent with intention. The turning of a blind eye and hoping for the best is a choice I get to make. One that plays into the long-term formation of these brilliant babes. Just as the days I wake up, pull on a drill sergeant uniform- doling out demands and restrictions- it’s a decision laced with intention. And I find myself asking often, what impression of intentionality am I leaving on their lives? •
It is a humbling, question- one I believe may be answered somewhere in a balance of prayerful, heart-filled intention to love and guide, to restrict and set free. It is a balance I have yet to begin to master. All I know is today they raced go-carts on a screen and then built storefronts out of shells, sand and buckets along the beach, and in all of it I watched them come alive, and it was joy.