April 10. Day 100. Don't fence me in

When Drama Teen started school he had a principal - who was nearing retirement - whose response to just about any criticism or suggestion a parent would throw his way was "We've done it this way for 10 years and there's never been any problems". That's what happens when we age. Our thinking becomes more rigid and more locked into how things have been done rather than what could or should be done. There is less and less thinking outside the box and more and more being boxed in by old habits and protocols. Kids, however, know no such restraint and it's a breath of fresh air. Today at the dog park we were playing with a delightful chocolate labradoodle called Cherry, her two young owners and their mum. The kids were running around and throwing balls and frisbees for the dogs to chase and catch when one went straight over the fence. The adults watched as Layla ignored the two perfectly good gates and instead scaled the chain wire. She wasn't going to be fenced in by conventions of what people "normally" did in such situations. And, of course, having fetched the ball she decided that climbing on the fence and hanging off the tree made an awesome alternative activity to playing with her brother and the dogs. Doing things a different way opens up a whole world of new possibilities. And that, I think, is the problem with the "if it ain't broke why fix it" mentality. We shouldn't have to wait for things to fall apart to evaluate how things might be done. Like Layla, see a barrier and take a leap of faith. The results may just be surprising.