The Wild and Free Family by Ainsley Arment

Author:Ainsley Arment
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

The Gift of Adventure

My friend Andrea Pratt and her husband Andrew decided to change how their family celebrated Christmas each year.

“In the early years of navigating Christmas and birthdays with children, I was caught off guard by my family’s generosity of gifts and the emotions it would bring,” Andrea said. “It felt a little like dread, a little like bewilderment, and a lot like stress. The dust storm of gift wrap would settle and all I saw was stuff I did not know what to do with. It was not just me. I will never forget one Christmas when my three-year-old daughter melted in a puddle of despair at the realization there were more unopened gifts. This was an opportunity to do something different.”

They decided, from that moment on, to give their children experiences, rather than presents.

Andrea and Andrew came up with ideas for more enriching gifts and invited their family members to do the same: things like zoo memberships, gymnastics classes, and tickets to The Nutcracker. These simple changes helped reduce the sense of dread, but they knew there was more they could do.

They realized they could give the gift of adventure.

Now, on Christmas morning, their kids wake up with the same sense of anticipation as any other child, but their presents contain clues about where their next adventure will take them. Andrew even devises a scavenger hunt with assignments, such as climbing a tree and using a compass. The search eventually leads to a password that unlocks a PowerPoint presentation, which reveals the big adventure.

They always leave the day after Christmas, so the kids don’t have to wait very long to enjoy the adventure.

The Pratts let their extended family members know they can give the children gifts but encourage them to make their gifts part of the experience, such as spending money, hotel rooms, or books for the trip.

A few years ago, the Pratts took their kids dogsledding in the frozen plains of Minnesota. They found one of the only dog-sledding outfits that doesn’t have an age limit, a company called Chilly Dogs Sled Dog Trips, so all the Pratt kids—two, four, and seven at the time—could join in the adventure.

Andrea said, “We stuffed stockings with consumables, wrapped dogsledding books, and outfitted the children with new gear for the trip. To add to the mystery, we planned a scavenger hunt with tasks that would earn letters, which formed a password unveiling a slideshow of our trip.”

When they arrived, the family met the owners, staff, and other guests in a cozy room with a roaring fire. They were given some history and instructions before heading out to meet the dogs.

Their sleds were pulled by teams of Alaskan huskies, some of whom had actually run the 938-mile Iditarod race in Alaska. These were not pets or rescue animals but athletes that loved having a job to do.

Andrea said, “In a matter of moments, we were in the woods on an open trail without a single sound other than the gentle swish of the sled atop fresh powder.

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