Being in the Outdoors : Life Lessons for City Kids
The other weekend we drove out of the city of Jakarta for a few hours and checked out Cijeruk, West Java!
We’re there for three days.
I LOVE the fact that we finally could be away from the busy metropolitan city and see MORE of nature!
Tall trees. Plantations. Bushes. Mountains. Fresh air!
…
When we’re there, we went hiking in search of a waterfall called ‘Curuq Cibadak’!
(Being city kids, both Anya and Vai have NEVER went hiking. They never knew what it’s like being in the ‘bush’, walking and treading on rocks and pebbles! Which made this hiking adventure even more ‘necessary’ for them, I thought! =)
I’ll post more photos and a video of this trip real soon!
…
For now, here’re two reasons why I thought our 2-hour hiking adventure gave Anya and Vai valuable life lessons:
1) The kids learn to keep on going, though the going gets tough at times!
They got scratches from the bushes. Some rocks did seem very hard to climb over too! But then we’re like, oh it’s okay … let’s keep on walking.
As the path towards the waterfall got steeper and narrower, they did slip and fall a few times. They got scratches from the bushes. Some rocks did seem very hard to climb over too!
But then we’re like, oh it’s okay … let’s keep on walking.
They walked on their own, holding their own sticks (made them feel more like a ‘climber’ perhaps =). And sometimes we gave them a little push, or held their hands as we crossed a very narrow path.
What’s important is, they kept on walking.
(I too appreciate the fact that during the hike, the kids got to see their Mommy and Daddy also going through tough obstacles, but never giving up / complaining at any point =)
2) The kids were CLOSER to nature. They saw plants and some animals a little closer. They got mud on their legs and feet and NOT able to clean it up immediately too! =)
And when we finally reached the waterfall, they happily dipped their legs in the icy cold water.
This experience, I believe, allowed them (and us!) to feel less resistance towards nature, which may otherwise seem very ‘foreign’ to us who spend very little time out in the ‘real outdoors’.
…
City kids (and parents) need to get more of such exposure, I think.
Btw, as a ‘city mom’, I too learned to keep quiet (read: Resist the temptation to say ‘No’), when they wanted to feel the waters and get WET – waist down! (Because you see, we had NO spare clothes, etc)
Since I wanted to let the kids ‘feel’ and enjoy nature more, if their bums felt cold and damp … it’s FINE, I told myself!
…
Anyway.
City kids (and parents) need to get more of such exposure, I think.
Because lessons can be learned outside the four walls of a classroom,
and life lessons are best learned when experienced by us ourselves, … yes?
…
Can’t wait till our next outdoor adventure!
…
[All photos in this post are taken by hubby]
2 Comments »
Leave a comment!
Absolutely agree with you on this. We love the outdoors, especially national parks, and have inculcated the interest in taking long hikes in our kid too. Of course, hiking in the cool climates of temperate countries are a little different from tropical cities, but we also enjoy sweating it out here too. Nothing beats the experience for character building, endorphin rushing, and happiness creating!
Hi Walter! You’re so right … the experience of character building, amongst many other things one can learn while being in the outdoors , is precious!
But, to city people who tend to prefer staying in their comfort zone and who’re used to traveling in their cars, air-conditioned buses and trains … exploring the outdoors may not be something that they’d like to venture into though. Which makes it ‘necessary’ for us parents (who’re ‘okay’ with being in the outdoors=) to expose the little ones to the outdoors too … =)