Have you ever noticed that when you are on vacation, your child takes huge developmental leaps? It’s because they are put on a fast track for transformation just by virtue of being taken out of their normal day-to-day life. Now I know this seems counter intuitive, because, as we all have learned, children thrive on routine. But living in Europe this summer has reminded me that when children are taken out of the routine and put into a totally new environment, the experience can be transformative in incredible ways.
I have examples from all five of my children””many examples””but I’ll give you just one for each child:
Madison, now age 14, took her first step while in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Sagey, now age 8, took her first step in Costa Rica.
Phoenix, now age 5, took his first step in Sedona, Arizona.
And Dakota and Montana, now age 2, took their first steps while in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
While living in Europe this summer, we have been amazed at how the twins’ language skills have grown. They’ve always had amazing language skills; however, the language they spoke was “twin language,” not English. I would repeatedly say to them, “You have to speak in English, guys, I don’t understand twin language,” to which they would respond by looking at each other and giggling.
So we all benefit by shaking up our lives a little bit and stepping out of our routine.
If your finances are not allowing you to travel at this point, no worries. Find new ways to spend your days, right where you are. It’s an intention. An attitude.
And I’m rootin’ for ya.
Have the best day ever!
Namaste!
Taylor plus 5 from Paris
Taylor Wells, M.A., M.Ed., RYT, owns Prana Power Yoga, Inc., Super-mom.com and Prana Super-mom Consulting. She is also a Boston Herald columnist and blogger, United Nations Yoga Peace Ambassador, activist,and happy Super-mom of 5 kids. She is the author of the“Best Life Ever” blog at Vitacost.com.