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If you’ve followed me for a while, you know we are a Scout family. I was my son’s den leader for four years, and I am currently my daughter’s Scoutmaster. I love the program, and the skills the kids learn. Scouts teaches life skills, encourages being involved in your community, and teaches good values. It is also a great program where kids learn to take risks and to challenge themselves.

{Updated with new content. The original post was in October 2018.}

I’m explaining all this because, through it, I want to share the importance of having our kids see us step outside of our comfort zone. In all honesty, it isn’t just beneficial to our kids. More on that later.

{Related article: The Benefits of Scouts for Your Homeschool (or really anyone)}

The Story

When my son was in Cub Scouts, every October my kids attended Spooktacular. It was an opportunity for families to go out to the Scout camp and take part in a lot of cool activities and camp for the weekend. It is a great family outing. Some people stay for the weekend, while others go for the day. Either way, it is a lot of fun. 

This particular October (after many years), I decided I would take the kids and camp out with them. Now my friends and family know that I don’t mind being outside. I enjoy going on hikes and being outdoors…when the weather is nice.

I’ll admit I lean more towards being a girly girl. I don’t like bugs or snakes. Coyotes aren’t high on my list of things I enjoy either. (We have a lot in our area.) I am also not a big fan of outhouses. Although, who is??? 

So, basically, I like the comforts of home.

You know heat, a toilet that flushes, and a comfy bed. I’m more of a glamper than a hardcore camper. At this point, I didn’t go tenting. We bought a pop-up camper to make camping a little more enjoyable for me.

I sound awful! I know. However, I didn’t grow up camping. I am a little different now, though.

Taking a Risk

Anyway, Spooktacular rolled around this particular year, and I decided to step outside of my comfort zone. I was going to be the fun mom, not the mom who goes home every year to take care of the animals. This year, I was going to do it. I would camp with the kids.

After all, we had Adirondacks to sleep in. Who cares if they are unheated and have screens on the front? Who cares if it was going to drop down in the 30s at night? That is what sleeping bags are for, right?

My kids were super excited mommy was going to camp out with them. Usually, their dad would stay the night. I would go home to feed the cat and chickens and go back in the morning to pick them up. It was a legitimate excuse, but also a very convenient one. To see my kids’ excitement, though, I knew I had to go through with this.

The kids and I sat down and planned out our meals for the weekend. My husband packs simple and light so the kids were ecstatic I was going to make campfire pizza, omelets in a bag, and s’mores in ice cream cones. It was a treat for them to have something other than hot dogs and beans. A campfire treat, too. Jackpot!

The weekend had finally arrived. In past years, we had mild temperatures of the upper 60s into the 70s. Not this year. It warmed to a balmy 45 degrees!

Okay. I could dress warmly.

Then it decided to rain for a few hours. Now it was cold and damp. I get cold very easily, and I hate to be cold. I was seriously rethinking the camping out thing. But I looked at my kids and realized I couldn’t let them down.

So what is the point of all this?

Kids benefit from watching us step outside our comfort zone. They are watching to see how we handle life and what we do with it. Our kids learn can from US whether to take risks in life. By taking risks our kids learn many things.

1. To Raise Kids Who Take Risks We Need to be Role Models

We need to set an example for our kids. They need to see us trying something outside our comfort zone. If they see us taking part in things we find uncomfortable, they may be willing to give things a try in life.

Was camping going to be detrimental to my well-being? No. I was uncomfortable. In fact, I was miserably cold overnight. I survived, though. I stuck with it so my kids could see mom can try something new. You may be surprised by the outcome and enjoy it. For me, I learned I need to bring more blankets in the future. I wasn’t swearing off camping, though!

The Lesson for Raising Kids Who Take Risks:

The important thing is in order to have kids willing to take risks in life, they need to see their parents doing it. They are watching how we handle adversity (discomfort, challenges, etc.). Our kids want to see if we give up or push through. They want to know that taking risks is good. We need for them to see how risk-taking helps you grow and learn.

2. Sometimes You Take Risks for Other People

My kids know I don’t like camping, but they saw I went because they wanted me to go with them. Sometimes we do things to make others happy, especially when it isn’t going to hurt us in any way. Hurting your pride by not being prepared or handling something the right way doesn’t count.

I saw how excited my kids were that I would FINALLY camp with them. I wasn’t going to back out when it ended up being cold and wet. My kids would have been very upset. There was no reason I couldn’t tough it out. They saw that and were happy. They had a great weekend.

The Lesson for Raising Kids Who Take Risks:

Again, kids are always watching. When we do something to make someone happy (even when it isn’t something we are crazy about), they learn other people’s needs are important too. They learn that we need to take some risks and step out of our comfort zone from time to time to make someone else happy. And, hey, it might not be that bad after all. Who knows, maybe it is something you WILL enjoy after all.

3. Follow Through with Your Commitments

Kids need to see us follow through with our commitments.

Now, I had other parents say to me “I would go home.” (Heck, some did.)

What kind of example would I have set for my kids?

I would have taught them that when things are tough, you can bail.

The Lesson for Raising Kids Who Take Risks:

I didn’t want my kids to learn that you take risks only when circumstances are perfect. What kind of lesson is THAT?!

I want them to learn to persevere and stick by their word. If you make a commitment to something or someone, you follow through with it. 

In the end, I am glad I went. My kids were so delighted to have me with them for the weekend. They enjoyed all the activities, they made the most of the rain, and they braved the cold. And during all this, mommy was with them! It meant the world to them, and I’m glad I did it for them. 

Did I have fun? It wasn’t that bad. The activities were fun, and it was great watching the kids run around freely in the woods playing. I got to see their happy faces when they woke up the next morning to find mom there. Heck, I enjoyed being with them and that’s what mattered.

Best of all, my kids learned the importance of stepping outside your comfort zone. They saw first hand the importance, and benefits, of taking risks in life.

Follow Up

Now, when I wrote this article over two years ago, I saw the importance of our kids seeing us stepping outside our comfort zone. Since then, I saw many other advantages, too.

Building Resilient Kids

Kids learning to step outside their comfort zone means they were learning to be risk-takers. However, they were also learning to be resilient.

When kids are resilient, they attempt things that are hard, uncomfortable, etc., and push on. They make the best of things. I certainly learned that and set that example for my kids.

Pushing Ourselves

That weekend over two years ago was just the beginning of ME stepping outside my comfort zone. My KIDS have been my biggest motivator. Sometimes doing things to make others happy, pushes you and challenges you.

As I mentioned above, the weekend wasn’t all bad. Now I am a scoutmaster (way outside my comfort zone) and planning camping trips. Heck, I signed up to go camping for two weeks (in a tent) during July in West Virginia. I’m actually looking forward to it.

You know what???

My kids see me taking risks every day and are quite the risk-takers themselves. It really is important for our kids to see us step outside our comfy bubble in order to learn to take risks too.