Just For Fun

This week we are planning a short trip. We will be leaving to go camping/ atv-ing for a few days. We are going with three other families and are quite excited. We ride our atvs around the farm here, but it's been quite a few years since we took them out somewhere else to ride. It used to be a favorite activity of Mr Farmer and me.

 We'd go up to Wisconsin to camp and ride. They have trails up there that connect a lot of the little towns and you can just ride right up to the shops and restaurants in town. If you've never ridden atvs, you may be surprised at how much of a workout you get doing it.

This was Baby on one at just under three years old. She is not riding it here, as she doesn't have a helmet, but she's getting ready!

But kids tended to put an end to that fun! Now they are getting older and can ride their own 4-wheelers.  We are of the mind that children should be taught how to do things correctly from a young age. They started riding with us at birth and have been riding their own since they turned three. They each have a helmet and have been taught how to ride. 

We have the same philosophy with guns. Teach them correctly how to use and respect something, and when they are older, they won't go nuts with a new "toy". I think this kind of information and teaching has gone by the wayside as these things are seen as dangerous and no child should ever touch them. But how did all the children in times past manage to live? They were taught from a young age how to properly and respectfully handle dangerous things. They weren't some mysterious, exciting toy in the top of mom and dad's closet. Fire wasn't something to play with, it was something useful and necessary, dangerous and needing to be respected. It's almost as if parents got lazy and didn't want to take the time to teach these kinds of lessons. It is just easier to say, "Don't ever, ever touch that!" If a parent has dangerous items in the home, they should be responsible enough to teach their children how to use and respect them because kids don't always obey. And kids are not nearly as curious about things they already know about.

Here is Mr Farmer teaching the Boy how to use his new BB gun.

Wow! How did I get on that soapbox?!  This was just going to be a quick post on our upcoming trip.

With a cute photo.

The kittens are ready to go camping.