Trust me...

Ryley trusted me enough to conquer his fear and do the zipline course.

This post is going to veer off topic from my usual posts. It has absolutely nothing to do with Ryley being in the outdoors but it has everything to do with getting your kids outdoors. You see one of the things I have learned through the years is that in order to convince your kids to do something fun, exciting and for them, scary, you need to have them trust you.

You can build that trust in many ways, but one of the simplest ways to gain your child’s trust is to give your trust to them. My wife and I decided to do just that on a recent family game night where my son picked an odd “game” for us to play, Bean Boozled. While it wasn’t the most pleasant experience it turned out to be a fun night of laughing, crying (from laughter) and near vomiting.

Through experiences like theses Ryley has come to trust me in my judgement. He knows that I care enough about him to eat disgusting jelly beans and he knows I won't put him in harms way. So the next time you want to show your kids they can trust you (and that you are the coolest parent around) go play Bean Boozled. You will definitely regret it but it will be something your child will always remember and hopefully strengthen the bond you already have.  Until then keep taking your kids outdoors…

P.S. Check out two other videos Ryley and I made from Summer Camp where we tried not as nearly disgusting tasting things!