I Want to Raise a Generation

I want to raise a generation of kids that are free.
I want my children to explore. To be adventurous.
To ask questions, to look at life and wonder why and why not.
I want to raise up a generation that isn't afraid to get dirty.

I want my boys to never lose their sense of wonder. I want them to dream and think and do.

We seem to live in a world where it's okay to be little, until it's not.

We create boxes and raise inhabitants for those boxes.

I don't want that.

I want my little ones to see life as an adventure.
To dig their hands into creation and to use their dreams and thoughts and words and actions for good.

I want my boys to know that it's okay -- good even -- to ask questions. To venture off the beaten path when their hearts are lead elsewhere.

I want my tribe to be thirsty for adventure -- even if that journey happens on sidewalks and in backyards.
I want to raise children who are bold. Who are brave.

A billion books are stacked on shelves in stores around the world telling us how to be the perfect parent.

Pages on pages outline parenting philosophies. What's better. What's best.

Here's what I know: We set the course for our own adventures.

As a mother, I get to hold the map and point out the treasure.

What my children see in me will -- for better or for worse -- help them develop their own sense of self. Their own take on the world.

So where does that leave me?

If I want my boys to be messy and brave, then I need to be messy and brave.

As parents, we need to let our kids be little.

We need to inspire and encourage them to be the unique, amazing little people they were created to be.

So here's to more adventures. The big ones. The little ones.

We're not just raising a generation -- we're changing the world.
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It may get a little messy, but it's pretty beautiful, too.