You see things anew through your child, right?

I know I did. Particularly when they were young and experiencing things for the first time. Seeing animals at the zoo, riding on a merry-go-round, swimming! They were all new to the kids and met with great interest.

My kids are still getting me to see things in a new light. We have taken the boys on sightseeing trips to major US landmarks over the years. Our goal was to not only educate our sons, but show them how much variety (in the ways cities look and feel, how people get around, the weather, nature, and more) there is in our country.

One trip we were fortunate enough to get a tour guide who had his PhD in the history of the city we were in and he opened our eyes to things an average tourist (which is squarely where we would put ourselves) wouldn’t know. We loved it!

My youngest also loves history and geography and studies it without any prompting. He wanted to make a return trip over his Spring Break to two major cities we’d visited prior. My initial reaction was okay, but what are we going to do the whole time we’re there since we’ve already done most everything? Of course, I shouldn’t have underestimated my son.

He had places mapped out he wanted to go. Much like our tour with the PhD guide, our son was showing us things anew — a place where George Washington gave a speech and people were so inspired they took the crowns of the top of the posts of a fence nearby and melted them down to make cannons as part of the American Revolution. The fence still stands with a plaque you could easily walk past and never realize you just walked past something with historic relevance. He had us find where molasses spilled and killed many people prior to better safety laws being in place. The list goes on one on. We didn’t visit one traditional tourist site but explored each city in much more fulfilling way. I left each place feeling like I better knew it. I couldn’t have done that without my son’s own curiosity..

What has your child helped you see anew?