The Perks of a Play-in-the-Mud Educational Philosophy

Yes I grew up in and around west Philadelphia playing on the streets, in the yards, exploring small woods and wading in muddy streams, exploring large culverts, climbing trees and getting banged up , cut and bruised along the way CW5 Jack Cardwell.
We built up antibodies to the diseases we had not caught [I had measles among other aliments :-) ]
When I was young I visited extended family in England and Wales with my parents and played outdoors there exploring castles, Sherwood Forest, my grand uncles farm in Surrey and so much more.

I taught my own sons to play outside as well :-)

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. CPL Dave Hoover SGT Mark Halmrast SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright

If I didn't live in an apartment I know my daughter would love to play in a yard. Hopefully my next duty station I can rent a house. I don't really like to just let her wander through the grass around the apartments...people don't always clean up their dog poop and who knows what other type of people are around. Find a needle or something. I don't think a lot of that goes on where I live in that neighborhood but still...

I grew up in a town of 1000. We were always outside running all over town as young as five.

Given that much of my life is spent behind a desk or in an airport these days...I'm thankful for my wife; a genuine farmer's daughter. She started early with our son...introducing him to the joys of woods, dirt, mud, chickens (and their poop). He's still very little, but already shows enormous intelligence, confidence, an outgoing personality, and a sense of humor. At two, he could name animals and count to five...nearing three, he can talk in complete sentences; well...sometimes :) Perhaps the biggest shock to me was his natural affinity for anything mechanical. At 20 months, he saw me working on my motorcycle, walked up...looked at a Phillips head screw, and picked up the correct driver for it!