Wild Child: Just One Bite

A large elephant faces the camera. In the background the savana stretches away under a blue, cloudy sky.

Where I grew up there is a saying “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”.

When I think about who I want to be as an outdoor embracing parent and or just a parent in general it can seem like my idea of perfect far too big and overwhelming to ever achieve. That’s my elephant.

I want to be the parent who plans fun daily outdoor trips to local forests where my children play and explore happily and eat healthy homemade snacks (because that’s what I see on social media). I want to take advantage of the little moments between getting home and dinner or between dinner and bedtime to spend time outside together creating happy memories. I have all these vague and complicated ideas of the parent I want to be, but getting there just seems out-of-reach from where I am now. But I don’t need to eat the elephant all at once, I can take just one bite or one step toward my goal right now in the middle of the messy reality of our family life.

Lately I try to remind myself, I have to start by taking that first bite. Doing just one thing today that will get me one step closer to where I want to be.

A women in a winter jacket holds a cup of coffee. The women is outside.

One bite is manageable. So instead of “I want to spend all day outside exploring”, try for “I’m going to drink my coffee outside”. That’s 15 minutes of extra time outside.

Instead of “I want to play outside everyday no matter the weather”, try for “let’s play outside in the drizzle for a few minutes”.

A child's legs wearing blue and green striped rainboots and standing a muddy puddle

Over a month that extra 15 minutes is an extra 7.5 HOURS! Taking one bite and taking your morning coffee outside leads to an whole workday of time playing outside for your child! Other small changes are the same, if you play outside in the rain (even for a short time), when normally you would stay inside, you will enjoy an extra 14 days outside in October and May. That is half a month of extra days playing outside in the Spring or Autumn, beautiful times of year, with tricky weather!

So instead of feeling overwhelmed this week, pick something easy, something small and take that bite. Because one small change over time makes a big difference!

What is your parenting elephant? Today choose one bite to take towards being the parent you hope to be tomorrow.


Written by Tandy Morton, WILD CHILD Outdoor Playgroup facilitator

Blog, parenting, Wild ChildNT MortonWild child, parent guilt, change, outdoor play