A Peck of Dirt

When we were growing up, we almost never got to stay home from school. There had to be vomit, spots or a temperature over 102F. If one of our friends had the measles, all the Moms were on the phone to each other making arrangements to send their kids over to the sick kids' house to play. Same with chicken pox.

Summertime was spent in bare feet. Oh the joy on the last day of school when the shoes came off for good! Once our soles toughened up, no gravel road could slow us down. Grass, sand, dirt, stones and wonderful mud. All underfoot, all summer long. Feet as black as pitch by September and all the scrubbing in the tub before the first day of school was a ritual that always marked the end of summer.  

In those days there wasn't the obsession with cleanliness that seems to be everywhere today. Lysol spray and handiwipes and disinfectants and sterilizing toys once a week and NEVER eating anything that fell on the floor God forbid. Mom always said we needed our peck of dirt and that was definitely our thought too.

When I designed my own Child Harness, it had to have a long lead so my boys could have all the room they needed to explore the ground beneath their feet. I wanted them to be able to get close to the earth and follow the bugs with their fingers, make patterns in the dirt and pile up the sand at the park. They had to have the freedom to walk a distance away from me and crunch through the fall leaves at the side of the road. Their harnesses kept them with me while they explored our world and acquired their own peck of dirt along the way.