My (potentially bad) parenting advice

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Parents of the world, I have one piece of advice that will give you a tool to help your child become happy, healthy, and productive. Give them a shovel and tell them they can do anything they want with it. Note, if you are in an urban area, this might be BAD advice, so suburban and rural people listen on, urban folks find a friend in the burbs with a yard and then follow along.

A kid with a shovel is an amazing thing to watch. Kids who are impossible to pry from the WII/PS3.. who don't like soccer/football/whateever, who might otherwise be surly or withdrawn... will become captivated by the idea that they can can explore and possibly find buried treasure, fossils, rocks, and dig/play for hours. Add water to the mix and the possibilities are endless: sand castles, mud castles, mud pies, mud pits, waterfalls, ponds, you name it!

Too often in our modern world, we think of parenting as an activity that requires structure, supervision, and direction. I think excessive amounts of structure, supervision, and direction could actually be a bad thing, they remove creativity and adventure.

Note: to my neighbors, be careful walking through my back yard, there are some holes back there and you could break a leg note #2: follow this advice at your own risk...some kids shouldn't be trusted with sharp implements...

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