Kids and Other People

This Spring Ampersand is blooming with children. I enjoy their enthusiasm and lack of focus (which sounds weird right? More on that a bit later). Great local families showed up for our Community Homestead Day. A bunch of urban families made the trek to Ampersand for our Homeschool Homestead Day. We are very much looking forward to hosting a group from East Mountain High School in a couple of weeks.

We don’t have kids of our own, so were learning basic things like: kids like to dig (who knew?), they like to contribute and they are proud of accomplishing even small things. Making solar cooked banana bread in an outdoor kitchen is loads of fun, and when the clouds unexpectedly take over the sky, the kids are so engaged with smearing mud on walls that nothing is lost. That’s the specialness of not being overly focused. Not one of them notices when the parents drag them home that they are giving up their slice of the pie (or banana bread) for those willing to wait.

Kids thrive on the specialness of things. That’s perfect for us. With all the time and energy we have put into creating this compound of resourcesfulness, you better believe everything is special. The rain, the sun, the earth, the wind. I’m coming up with ways to bring the teachings of Ampersand to school environments. The children are showing me it can be done. This could be the beginning of a mobile sustainable living curriculum. Stay tuned and let me know if this interests you.

Our next class might enable you to bring this home to your kids. I’m excited to offer the Solar Cooking and Sustainable Kitchens class on Sunday May 25. You will get to experience how we do it all here and figure out which piece would work to integrate into your lifestyle and family, perhaps leading your own children on a path of self sufficiency.

Written by Amanda Bramble