Someone's driving through the Outback in Australia. Farm after farm, all of them fenced - high, tight, everything built to keep the sheep in. And then he passes a farm with no fences at all. Nothing. He thinks, how does this even work? So he knocks on the door and asks the farmer: "Everyone here has fences - how do you keep your sheep?" And the farmer says, "I don't need fences. I just sink more wells." Because the sheep are smart enough to know - out there, you don't wander far from your water. So when we want kids to show up - for music, for reading, for anything - our instinct is to build a fence. Make it compulsory. More rules and control. But you can't fence a child into loving something. The wells are a completely different question, and rather than asking "how do we make them join?", we ask "what would make them want to participate?" The wells are the good stuff. It's belonging, purpose. It's more choice, deeper relationships, being seen, and more autonomy. Give a child that... and you won't need as many fences. You won't be able to keep them away. Maybe it's a game you offer, maybe it's just connecting before correcting. Maybe it's more questions and less lecturing? I don't have the answers, but perhaps we tried less fencing them in, and more sinking of wells. 💛 Let us know if you have any ideas?

- Our kids deserve more than being asked to learn through worksheets, grades and being threatened with failure. - Having worked with a team of futurists for over 17 years I know, without a doubt that the 'future' I was raised for is NOTHING like the future I'm raising my kids for. Yet somehow most people still parent like it's 1983 - Social media, tech, screen time shouldn't be the enemy..... Rather how we decide to use the various tech tools we have available to us, and what we model for our kids, is what we should be focusing on. - Also..... when in doubt find a puppy to snuggle, calm your nervous system, touch grass and remind yourself of this one magical life we get to live.... (And since this is the first post here I'm still trying to figure out how to post my photo of said puppy.) - Anyone else here being more intentional about -'raising tomorrow' - whether at home, at school or even at work.