Challenge and Support

During our vacation in the Dells recently, my kids expressed interest in the elevated ropes course at the resort. “Did you want me to join you?” My question was half-hearted; I don’t enjoy heights but I thought I should at least offer. “Did you want to?” they asked me. I could tell by their tone of voice that they did, in fact, want me to balance on ropes with them twenty feet up in the air.

So I did. We were outfitted with harnesses, locked ourselves to a network of cable in case we fell, and started traversing the course. And when I say “traverse”, I mean “gliding along the ropes” for my kids and “tiptoeing along” for myself. They were very helpful. “Don’t go on that one, Dad. The blocks are too slippery. Take the other route.” I still slipped on the easier task.

After a while, my fear subsided if not totally went away. As we made our way back to the entrance/exit, I found the lower ropes where we started to be a lot easier to handle. “Would you do it again?” I asked my kids. “Oh, yeah,” they both responded. Would I? Maybe, as long as I knew that I would have the support in case I made a mistake. That’s how we learn, right? We seek out new challenges and then design the learning experience to ensure that errors are opportunities to learn.