Small Adventures
How our family stumbled into Whimsy
Have you have ever wanted to stop a moment in time? To look at it, savor it and sear it in your memory? This is a moment I want to remember—our family bouncing on giant hip-pity hops in our backyard while my camera was snapping away capturing last years Christmas card. I will remember the laughter and my husband trying to bounce so high I was afraid the ball would pop! I am in love with moments. Not just any moments, but ones that surprise and delight us and bring meaning to our lives.
But moments seem to slip from my grasp so easily. I live in the heart of silicon valley, a place where time seems to rush by me while I’m running to catch up. It’s a place of innovation and creativity as well as stress and drivenness.
My daughter has a world map on her wall with a pin in every place she has traveled. One day I asked her why she loves to travel the world and she told me “she loves to travel to escape the pressure she feels in her hometown.”
Both parents and children feel pressure here. Every day during high school my son would ride his bike across these train tracks on his way to school. Over his high school years, 6 of his classmates ended their lives on these tracks by our house. When I hear a siren nearby, I always worry.
Pressure adds up in families and we can tend to miss the small everyday moments that bring meaning to our lives.
Sanders Summer Camp was our families response to the cultural pressure around us. It was a way to slow the rush and create space for good things to happen. It wasn’t a real camp, it was a way our family used the summer to tell a different story.
In the summer of 2012 we wanted to focus on bravery and fun, so our Sanders Summer Camp themes centered on risk and whimsy. These signs still hang in our home, reminding us of the power of that summer and how it shaped our family.
We made a goal to take 50 risks as a family. When I asked my son what risk he remembers taking that summer, he quickly said, “Driving the car by myself in Wyoming.” With my husband at the start of the dirt road and myself at the end, we watched our 12-year-old navigate our big Honda Pilot from point A to B. Our hearts were pounding as he rolled by with the biggest smile on his face. Our 10-year-old daughter was up next.
We created space for whimsy. We invited friends and neighbors over on Saturday to “fight.” We had Nerf gun fights, whipped cream fights, water fights… The water fights were the most popular and we soon realized that buckets were much more effective then water guns. One of my neighbors took this picture with my camera as my husband doused me with water. Even though we invited families to come, it was usually just myself, my husband, my friend Brooke (who is always up for a party) and about 15 kids that were dropped off at our house.
We also hosted Friday night talent shows, where children would perform magic tricks, play violin or show a short film they produced. One Friday night when the record player was playing and kids were dancing and running free a Mom came to pick up her son. She looked around and with tears in her eyes said, “This is life and I don’t experience life, I just work.” I invited her to come to our Friday night gatherings, but she never came. I would often think about her when she dropped her son off at our house, wondering what would change for her if she could make time to experience life giving moments.
We created a lot of life for a lot of children over the years, but time goes by and children grow up. Our daughter has just graduated from high school. The lessons we learned from the summer of 2012 are now a permanent part of our family culture.
We all experience a lot of stress and sadness in our world—especially lately with the global pandemic, but we have learned as a family to step into the unknown and to make space for whimsy. Whether it’s a creative Christmas card, dunking our heads in lakes and rivers when we go on hikes or counting our neighbors sneezes in the backyard (yes, during quarantine we started a sneeze count that carries on to today), we want a life that surprises and delights us and is full of meaning.
As our children grow up, we never know when the last summer will be that we are all together. This summer’s theme is The Remember Jar and each week we pick a favorite activity that we have enjoyed over the years.
These are often small things, like a family hacky sack game or watching a favorite movie together. Creating moments doesn’t have to be hard, it is just about making space for good things to happen. I want to invite you to make space in your life for a small adventure. Why not make a Remember Jar and fill it with things you love to do? Pick one out every week and let the adventure begin. Try creating small adventures with your family and see what unfolds. Just remember to savor the moments.