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

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!

CW5 Jack Cardwell - First off, no man every truly grows up. Second, I also grew up outdoors, by choice. I never wanted to be home, I was always out with my friends on our bikes, digging in dirt, playing in streams, building dams are generally hacking through the woods building stuff out of fallen tree limbs, branches and twigs. if I didn't come home dirty, it was a waste of a good day. And while I was playing ouside with people, I learned valuable skills...Like social interaction. Many kids these days just stay indoors glued to the television or their stupid phones, I can't tell you how many people have ran into me because they were paying too much attention to their damn cell phone, I hate cell phones, and I only have one out of necessity.