Journeys and Adventures with a child

It seemed only right that I start this blog with the story of a little guy who has taken a big chunk of my heart this year.  A little man that has taught me more than any adult, any journey, any adventure ever will.
To see the world again through the eyes of a child has been an amazing thing.  It has taught me to slow down, to see the flowers, the airplanes, the birds and yes even the garbage bins and the garbage trucks in life.
I know my own children had the same "wide eyed wonder" at the simple things in life so very long ago but I also know that I was a young, busy mother too busy to take the time to just sit and watch them, to smell the flowers, walk the neighborhood and make sure every garbage bin is out, to sit in a sand box and build a sand castle (yes I did this) or to play "shops" with leaves as money and a "hello" as the sweetest greeting in the world. I have been told  "Tinny (his name for me) swing too! And told to "here sit" as he pats the floor next to him.  I feel like I have had a second chance at childhood!

So what makes an "adventure"  what makes a "journey"?  Is it traveling far away to a distant land where you experience breathtaking waterfalls, or important monuments?  Is it packing a bag and boarding an airplane or a cruise ship and being whisked off to some exotic destination?

I have learned this year, because of my wonderful two days a week spent with a very inquisitive, very observant, very active little guy, that a "journey" or an "adventure" can be a walk to the park, it can be a hose and a bucket, it can be a walk to the bakery for gingerbread men.  And along the way on each of those "adventures" there is great discoveries to be made,  a stop to pick dandelions, smell them and then hand them to me and say "pretty"  How many of you have stopped to smell a dandelion lately?  Or thought they were "pretty?"  It is watching a jet fly overhead and looking at it in amazement, a jet!  It is finding a dog at the park and rushing up to it only to stop just short and wave with a "hello"  then dash off to the swings.  Every day can be an adventure, every day can be a journey.

I need to learn to make every day an adventure, stop to smell the dandelions, watch the birds or say hello to a dog.  Be amazed at a jet overhead or the water in a fountain.  Learn to find joy in play dough and Curious George.  Learn to slow down and enjoy life and the journey that it is........

Thus my first post about adventure!

travel on!