Sunday, September 16, 2007

Badges to Lessons


As most of you mothers out there,
we are all so very proud of our kids.
Saturday I had an amazing moment
with my boys.



Matthew is a Cub Scout. His burning desire has been to earn the World Conservation Award for the past 3 years. The big hang up has been the need to participate in a conservation project.

Saturday, Matthew, Jacob and I participated in The Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup. Volunteers along the beaches of Michigan and Illinois worked to clean up one of the world's largest coastal area. Matthew was the sole scout from Pack 771.

Both boys were ready to go out the door at 8:30am on Saturday with enthusiasm. They were running around excited about searching out trash along the beach, amazed at the number of beer bottles found, shotgun shells, paint cans and other stuff. The oddest find was an orange sled.

Jacob summed it up best:
"Mom, this is like a treasure hunt for trash. This is fun!"

As we walked back to our car to leave for a soccer game, I was so delighted at spending this cool, crisp Fall morning with my boys. Matthew admitted that he orginally wanted to do this project to just get this badge. However, he said that he ended up learning how bad people can be with their trash, and if we all just pick up after ourselves the enviroment would be "just fine."

WOW!
It is moments like Saturday that make me the luckiest person alive.
I love you boys. Eeek!

How has a "want" turn into a lesson for your kids?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats Angie! That's great. And it's great that your sons are learning the environmental lesson so early!

Debby said...

When I visit my friend Deanna Tucci Schmitt in Pittsburgh, we always walk around a lake near her home. She and her hubby walk around this lake a lot. Every time they take plastic bags with them to pick up trash. Every time the bags come back full. I am glad Deanna is willing to pick up what others throw down. But wouldn't it be better if she didn't have to do this?

Anonymous said...

During our annual camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes, we went for a walk at Good Harbor Bay. This is a deserted beach and the park system has purchased and removed all sign of development. I was shocked to discover the amount of trash we found that had washed up. We returned the next day with trash bags and turned it into a "artifact hunt" and the kids had a blast. That was several years ago but it has now become a tradition to leave places we visit in better condition then when we found it.

Kids are so impressionable to things that matter... and they are the future.