Natural Consequences

As a teacher I love natural consequences and I've always known that as a mom I will rely on natural consequences to teach my child some valuable life lessons. At school, I frequently rely on natural consequences to teach important lessons. For example, "I'm sorry you don't like what is for lunch, I hope you don't get too hungry this afternoon" or, "That's too bad you forgot your coat, it's a little cold outside. I guess you won't forget it tomorrow." There are many other "teachable moments" that pop up throughout the school day and the natural consequences often work to drive home those important life lessons. So, while visiting the Brookfield Zoo with my sister-in-law and nephew I saw a perfect opportunity for my son to learn a valuable life lesson: dirt tastes bad. We visited the zoo on Tuesday and went into the play area (which is filled with many fun activities for kids). Most of the activities were not appropriate for our young ones, but we found an area that was created for infants to explore the Earth. We set the babies inside a sand box (which was mostly dirt) and let them play. I was expecting my child to stick a handful of dirt into his mouth immediately, but he just kept grabbing chunks and putting the dirt inside the bucket that was provided. Eventually a handful of dirt made it's way to his mouth. I was ready to intercept when my sister-in-law reminded that if he tasted it he probably wouldn't do it again because it would taste so bad (natural consequence, right?). I soon realized that it wasn't going to work when Logan started shoveling the dirt into his mouth...oops! Well, I was the one that learned the lesson that day...not everyone has the same taste. Overall, we enjoyed our very long day at the zoo. Logan and Ryder (my nephew) were the perfect age to take to a place like the zoo because they enjoyed sitting in their strollers and taking everything in. They took their naps in their strollers while we continued to look around and eat some lunch. I can't wait to go back there someday soon.

Logan, enjoying some yummy dirt!

The boys playing in the dirt

Looking at the sea lions


Nap time

I love sharing special days like this with my little guy!