Unschool: Be Brave, Adventurous and Just a Bit Daring
It’s mid-summer, and our days are sticky-hot and stormy. I feel like descending our bush-covered mountain and heading for the coast.
“Perhaps we could find a dog-friendly holiday house at the beach,” I tell my husband Andy. I imagine standing in the ocean, waves rolling over my feet, with the salty breeze lifting my hair. “We could take Nora and Quinn with us.”
It’s been a while since Andy and I last went away somewhere together. I’ve had a few mother-daughter holiday adventures, but Andy hasn’t been anywhere since we last headed north to see our son Callum in 2020. That was an adventurous holiday. I wrote about it when we returned home:
We arrive at a sign that warns us not to enter during wet weather. If we can see our tyre tracks on the road, it’s not safe to go any further. Although a few drops of rain fell overnight, it’s now dry, so my son Callum chooses a low gear and guides his truck up the steep and winding dirt track.
After a few long and tension-filled minutes, in which I hardly dare breathe, we reach the top of the mountain, and Callum says, “That view is worth the climb up here, isn’t it, Mum? You’ll get some great photos.”
In front of us, a stunning scene is laid out just for us. We’re the only people at the summit.
As we’re getting out of the truck, Sophie tells me that this is her second visit to Mt Borah. And then she adds, “Last time Callum brought me here, he let me drive his truck.”
“Up that road?” I ask wondering how a learner driver would ever be able to negotiate all the turns and dips of that pot-holed track that threatened to fall into the valley below.
“No,” reassures Sophie. “I only drove when we got to the top.”
I think about my daughter learning how to use gears in a place where skydivers throw themselves off the cliff. What if she’d driven over the edge?
“You shouldn’t tell me about the dangerous things you do,” I say. “I don’t want to know.” But I know my kids won’t keep silent. They always want to share their adventures with me. I guess that’s natural. We do something daring; we escape a dangerous situation; we survive. We want others to know.
“Did you hear about our narrow escape?” I say. I have a story of my own. “We were driving along the back road to town when a kangaroo leapt out in front of us. It came out of nowhere. Dad swerved to avoid it and drove straight towards a second kangaroo. They were huge. I knew we were going to hit them. They were so close. I could see the car crunched, the kangaroos dead.” My eyes light up as I tell my tale. It’s a good one.
I snap dozens of photos of the stunning view, and Callum says, “Aren’t you glad you came up here, Mum?”
And I am. I saw something not everyone gets to see.
Sometimes we have to be brave and adventurous and a bit daring, don’t we? We can’t remain on the sidelines of life where it feels safe. We’ve got to get involved, take up challenges, live life to the full. Don’t let fear hold us back. We must create stories to tell.
But what about the danger? Most times, we inflate it. We tense up and think, “What if?” when maybe we shouldn’t. That mountain top wasn’t small, so Sophie had lots of room to manoeuvre the truck. And I trust Callum. He had everything under control.
“So, what’s our next adventure?” I ask as we climb back into the truck to begin the descent.
I don’t realise that the next adventure is about to begin. I close my eyes as Callum steers his vehicle down the almost vertical incline.
Although I love adventures, I’d be satisfied with a quiet holiday at the beach: aqua waves lapping the golden sand, a cool breeze and a couple of novels. Doesn’t that sound good?
An Adventurous Unschool Challenge
If you’re feeling adventurous, you could do Challenge 13, Be Adventurous, from my book The Unschool Challenge.
There’s a story preceding the challenge. It begins:
Maybe there are times when we wish our kids would be more adventurous:
“How do you know you don’t like it? You haven’t tasted it! “
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself once you get there.”
“You’ll have fun if you join in.”
Yes, we urge our kids to be brave and try new things.
Two Adventurous Stories for My Blog Supporters
Most people put petrol or gas into their vehicles’ tanks. But we fill our car with adventure juice. Once the tank is full, we smile. Where shall we go? What shall we see? What will we do? What adventures will we have?[/intro] Callum also fills his vehicle with adventure juice. While we are visiting my favourite second son, we all climb into his truck and then bump up and down the dirt roads that surround the small country town where he lives. I have to hang on tight as the vehicle lurches this way and that. I could be afraid…
I never thought I’d become a Catholic unschooler. An unschooler? Maybe. A Catholic? Oh no! At one time in my life, that seemed impossible. When Andy asked me to marry him, of course, I said yes. “But I’ll never become a Catholic,” I added. I had to make it clear. Just in case. What if my cradle Catholic husband had plans to drag me into his church? I’d heard stories about the Catholic Church. Bad ones. The Church controls people’s lives. Tells them what to do. It’s just a big institution. similar to schools, designed to take away people’s freedom.
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So, have you been on any daring adventures recently? Perhaps unschooling feels like a frightening adventure, something that needs a lot of courage to do? Or have you discovered that your concerns were inflated, and unschooling is a good kind of adventure, a way of life you’re grateful you’re living? Why not stop by and share your story?