Well, I’ll tell you what this means, and how this can be…  We had just a little too much fun this school year.  It means that we will be doing school through the summer.  It means that while we don’t get a 3 month break from school, we do get a lot of little breaks throughout the year!  The way I see it, life is merely a brief journey, a foray, a blink of an eye and I refuse to waste it doing the mundane, the boring.  School, for our kids, is exciting and new everyday.  This year alone, our kids have learned not only the basics of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, but also how this knowledge is implemented in REAL LIFE.  They have learned how to lay down wood floors, how to measure and cut the trim boards with a table saw, how to calculate the amount of flooring for a given area.  The kids have learned how to seed a yard and how to add a sprinkler system.  They all can calculate the approximate cost of any trip given the mileage and the exorbitant price of gas. The are blogging, they are writing, they are being interviewed, & they are reading.  In fact, 4 of the kids were given an assignment by their current kayaking coach, to read The Psychology of Winning.  They have learned that life isn’t a cookie cutter neighborhood, where everyone is expected to be the same.  Life is as individual as each beholder!  There is no HOA where you are told how you can and cannot color your life.  It can be as wonderful or as miserable as you make it.   All our kids know this.  The winners in life, the truly successful are those whose attitude screams positivity, screams risk taker, screams against the grain.

You know, we have a no complaining rule in our household.  If you don’t like something, change it.  If something isn’t working for you, fix it.  Complaining breeds whiners, which in turn breeds losers in the game of life.  Complaining sets the mentality that you expect others to do for you; when in fact, you ought to be doing for others.  In this journey of life, there are always people who have more and there are always people who have less.  Our goals are not to increase our possessions, to hoard material things, to have the nicest house or the newest cars; on the contrary, our goals are loftier.  Our goals are to be happy with what we have, to be thankful and to be exponentially more generous than we even believe we can be to those who are less fortunate.  One of the greatest lessons in life for our kids is to be doers.  Doers get out, they make a difference in the world, they are not single minded, they are open minded, they do for themselves and for others!  Doers don’t complain, they fix, they change, they adapt.  And they learn from all experiences.

So,in actuality, in reality, what this means is that we’ve done exactly what we set out to do … and that is to continue our children’s education in life.  And, here is where I might stray from friend to traitor, but straight A’s and book smarts only get you so far.  To succeed in life you must have zeal, you must have dreams, you must have knowledge, you must have street smarts, you must have a positive attitude, you must be willing to fall on your face in epic failure, you must be able to control the mind game that is strife and trouble.   And, most importantly, you have to accept happiness.  Sounds weird, eh?  Sounds silly to say you have to accept happiness, but it’s the God’s honest truth.  Happiness is not a lazy state.  Happiness is an outlook.  Happiness comes from the deep recesses of your psyche.  It’s not popping pills and it’s not skating through life.  Happiness is taking the good with the bad and rolling with it.  If’s self-confidence & self-love. It’s actual, true self-esteem, not the kind you get for winning awards for attending., but rather the kind that you achieve after working hard for success.  In short, happiness is a choice and a reflection of strength!

This lady, whose name I have forgotten because I’m horrible with names and anything to do with memory, really, then said, “I don’t know how you do it, but you should write a book.” I smiled because I have written a book, but outside mass didn’t seem the right time to self-promote myself. She hugged me and went on her merry way. Of course, her kind words carried me through most of the day, but so did the assumption that corporal punishment was employed based on the behavior of our kids. I wondered if she would feel the same way if she encountered us at the park, or pool or any other outdoor activity where our kids are encouraged to let loose and go crazy? Would she think our kids were beautiful and well behaved? Would she assume they were “beat”? Or would she think they were wild Indians who had little to no parental guidance? I think the latter, simply based on the parents we’ve encountered both at home and on the road. However, there is a time and a place for everything!

I find it interesting, always, to hear what parents today think is acceptable behavior and what they don’t. I find it interesting to listen to how parents speak to their kids, how they interact with their kids and how their kids react to their parents. My book was described, by a dissatisfied reader, as “Attachment Parenting With an Attitude”. I wish I had thought of that while brainstorming a title, or a subtitle. It’s brilliant! And it’s exactly how the book reads. I’m certain in our parenting, I’m certain in our values and our morals and in the way we choose to raise our kids, so why wouldn’t it read with attitude? People who know us, who know our kids, know they are respectful, kind, supportive, loving, and crazy fun kids who work hard for whatever they get. Nothing comes easy for us, we work our tails off for whatever it is we are going after.

How do we do it? Time. We spend time with our kids. We build their trust. We build their confidence. We build their faith. We build their strength. And we support them … fully. In a sense we build them. From newborn to 19+ we are their biggest supporters, and their biggest safety net. We are here when they triumph and we are here when they falter. Coby isn’t happy at night? I’m there to nurse him and rock him all night if that’s what it takes. Grady & Brody want to run class V whitewater? Not without us. We are there to set safety so they can run the stouts. Kerry wants to start her own graphic arts business? We are there for advice, support and encouragement. Grady, Brody & Kady want to try to make the US Freestyle Kayaking Team? We are right there with them encouraging them to give it their absolute best, regardless of outcome, if they can walk away knowing they gave everything they had, they paddle off the river with nothing left – then they will have succeeded. Through everything we are there. Life is filled with triumph (6 laps on Cascades) and with disappointment (Grady crushing his fingers) how can you as a parent not be there?

Parenting is the most important “job” anyone can ever have. It’s a divine vocation. God has blessed us with 12 gifts from heaven. He’s entrusted Dan & I to raise 12 of His children to the best of our ability and that means being present, both physically and mentally. It means giving 100% to our kids … just as we tell them to give 100% in all they do. They are our legacy. It is my deepest desire that we be a part of their memories. I don’t want them to recall the week away at camp or the summer they spent abroad – there is plenty of time for them to make memories that don’t include Dan or I. In their young years, their formative years and in their teen years, I desire more than anything to be an integral part of their dreams and memories. For if I’m not now, how can I ever expect to be when they are grown and forging lives of their own? I hope these years spent with our kids teach them that dreams are attainable, that family is the most important aspect of life – and that family must always be near! I hope these years will give our kids the courage and the wisdom to spread their wings and fly in search of their dreams – and the courage and the wisdom to realize that family is always an integral part of any dream! This is, indeed, the best life!

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black and white.” – Mark Jenkins

The above quote made me think. It made me think really hard. There is so much wonderful happening in our lives right now that it is hard to imagine not having taken this leap of faith, this calculated, yet, life-altering, heavy on the risks, journey. Yet, I do, however seldom, question our decision in the dark recesses of my mind, late at night while listening to the even breathing of the people I love more than I could ever express, more than life itself. Perhaps occasionally I allow my mind to wander to the criticisms of others. Perhaps, occasionally, I let the hooks of indoctrination pull me back into the societal norms, the empty promises echoed by the “real world”. I do this, of course, because I am a mom. My children have been entrusted into the care of Dan and myself by God Himself. There is no more important facet of my life than to raise the most amazing, giving, kind, loving, productive and happy people the world has ever seen. My desire isn’t to raise lawyers and doctors. My goal is not to have wealthy children, who have all the luxuries the world can offer. Not even close. My deepest desire, my whole reason for being is to raise 12 children who will grow to be individuals who change the world.  Literally change the world.

And this knowledge is what reinforces my participation, my determination to embrace our decision to show our children a new way of life, a new lens, so to speak, with which to view the world … via travel.   Travel first, in this country. And then embark globally. Let’s face it, this country, heck the world, needs more people that are globally aware.  Look at our leaders.  Look at our countrymen.  Far, far from being a reason not to travel and seek adventure, our children are, undoubtedly, the most compelling reason to do both!

Prior to embarking on this journey, our kids were under the impression that everyone was either white or hispanic, everyone went to church, people were close-minded and not terribly friendly, certainly not hospitable and that money, as much as one could possibly hoarde, is the only way to survive. How, Why??? Because we lived in a small Colorado town, nestled between Vail and Aspen with little to no ethnicity outside Hispanics and Whites. The price of everything was through the roof – real estate, food, clothes, household goods, vehicles … the cost of living was not that which anyone could afford. People aspired to work for work’s sake. Since we’ve been out on the road we’ve met so many different people from different walks of life, experienced real Southern Hospitality, and it’s been proven, time and time again, that money has zero effect on one’s happiness. The happiest person we’ve met, one of our absolute favorite people, is of little means; yet, he’s also one of the happiest.  He lives his life, minute by minute and is genuinely totally, extremely happy!

Prior to this adventure, our kids fought like banshees over everything. It’s every parents biggest complaint. Dan swears it drove his mom to the brinks of insanity.  And so it was with us.  Just for fun, imagine your home with 10 more kids – all fighting at different intervals throughout the day.  Not that they each fought 24/7, but rather, a different two every few minutes.  There was no peace! The excesses of our 3,000+ sq foot home did nothing to alleviate this fact, and in all actuality probably contributed to the “it’s mine” mentality that despite our greatest efforts could not thwart. In the process of learning, not a fast or easy process, to co-exist in a 300 sq ft home, we are learning patience, as much for our own sanity as for the world around us.  Patience and charity – we are a work in progress, but getting better everyday!

Pre-trip the only independent readers were Kerry, Kady and Maddy. Anytime I handed them a book or merely suggested sitting down to read they would invariably say, and I quote, “I hate to read”. Now, with the elimination of TV, Playstation, and all electronics really, except computers (and Dan will not share his pricey wifi with them) and Kindles, they’ve all learned to love books. From Fight Club to Tuck Everlasting, from In the Call of the Wild to The Giver to Hatchet the boys are reading and they love it. And just as remarkable, Grady has finished 11th grade and is now studying Android App development. He has an idea for a game and finished school early in order to pursue this – he’s learning Java … now that’s some real world value if I’ve ever heard it! It seems that given the alternative of staring at each other as we travel, or reading they have chosen reading and individual based learning. I’m more astonished than anyone, trust me!!

Even I have evolved. Our homeschooling philosophy has advanced as well. In the past, I’ve found myself teaching during the school hours and then that was it. The learning stopped as soon as the clock struck twelve or as soon as the kids were done with lessons. I’ve long felt a push from God to possibly explore the wonders of unschooling – perhaps not to abandon all structured learning, but to incorporate it in and produce a much more exciting and interesting learning environment. I’ve pushed back, but a week or so ago I had a revelation. Learning is an everyday all day thing. Kids are learning every second of every day and they don’t even know it. This realization led to probably the most profound thought I’ve had in a while. Learning to kayak is all play. Learning to snowboard and to climb and to ride a bike … all play, all fun and kids soak it up. I am schooling 9 kids – all who thrive in different educational settings, none who don’t thrive by visual means, none who don’t thrive when participating in hands on activities. Now learning is more of an all day affair, I’ve revived the teacher in me, the double major/minor college graduate. I have a BA in English and a BA in Political Science, I have a Humanities Minor – I got this!

Reading is the means to all knowledge. If you can read you can learn…anything. No more do you go to the library and use the card catalog – we have the Internet. No longer must you diagram sentences or learn cursive – the keyboard is the new age ink. Even analog clocks are outdated … digital is everywhere. We are going back to the basics when everyone learned and learning was fun. The three R’s. Reading (tons of it), Riting (more than they care to do) and Rithmetic (via SOS). They write blogs for Jackson Kayak, they will write KelloggShow blogs, they write creative essays, technical essays, opinionated essays, product reviews, movie reviews, book reports, they journal, the list is endless. In today’s world, one must complete Algebra II and Geometry, huge focus there. This is Dan’s domain. He owns it. He’s patient, knowledgable, and awesome! He somehow gets the kids to want to do more math, and they have his genes, not one of them struggles in this arena!! Their creativity, their awareness, their eagerness to learn, it’s so encouraging.

The biggest thrill to Dan and I in all of this is that we are living it with our kids.   We are ensuring that they will have wings that are eager to fly when their time comes to change the world. We are not merely telling them they can do whatever they desire most. We’re not sitting behind a desk or working a dead-end job, living a completely unfulfilling life telling our kids that they have to follow their dreams. We are living proof that reality is what you make it.  Reality is fully negotiable.  World changers must have this mindset.  They cannot become ensnared by their circumstances, they must fly, they must soar.

“A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

Our children will never be bird’s without wings!