Raising Outdoor Confident Kids with Julianne Nienberg

Connect with Julianne at www.myoutdoorsymom.com or in Instagram

Get the Raising Outdoor Confident Kids Playbook

Learn more about Kiera and Frame of Life or on Instagram

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Freedom Podcast. Welcome to the Fream of Life podcast. Let's try it.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Welcome to the Fream of Life Podcast, a show dedicated to helping busy moms and business owners document their stories. Over here, we hold space to connect with tools to create and permission to play. I'm your host, Kiera Liu, a former attorney, turn pro photographer, sentimental memory maker, and the visual storyteller behind the Frame of Life. I wear a lot of hats, so to say, and I'm recording this podcast live from the messy middle of motherhood and entrepreneurship. Some say I'm the master of the pivot, but I like to think that I'm just the master of finding the magic in the mundane and shining light on the stories that connect us all. So whether you're a busy mom juggling all the demands of home life and mom life, a creative memory keeper or a small business owner looking to connect and leave your mark on this world, pop in your earbuds, lace up your sneakers, and let's get on this journey together. They were doing so much outside, they didn't even come inside for an entire afternoon one day this weekend. And it felt like the whole world shifted. I visibly noticed myself feeling more relaxed and noticing that the kids seemed so much more regulated and were happier and they went to bed easier. Everything just got easier. And there was something that was a key denominator here. It was getting outside. And that's what today's episode is all about. I've brought in my friend Julianne Nyinberg, who is the mom behind My Outdoorsy Mom podcast and the digital playbook called Raising Outdoor Confident Kids, one that she calls Rock. Julianne is a mom of three in Michigan who back in 2020, with three kids under three and a half years old and a full-time corporate job, decided to do something radical. Spend 15 minutes outside every day with their kids. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but that was the one thing that started snowballing and making it easier every single day. No fancy gear, no plan, just getting out the door. What happened next is, quite frankly, a full reframe on what kids actually need and what us families need to try. Julianne and I met last year inside the Run Wild My Child Mastermind with our past podcast guest, Sarah McCarty. And it was a moment that we connected that I knew that I needed you guys to hear from her. Julianne just approaches getting outside in a way that's practical from a real mom standpoint, from someone who hasn't always been so great at getting outside. She's started to do it and found the benefits from it. And we can learn a lot from her today. And she's not here to make us feel guilty about the screen time that we have or sell us on the perfect outdoor gear or the best morning routine. She's here to remind you that the messy, the muddy, and those moments that are all of the crazy in between is the ones that matter most. And we're gonna get into it right now. So without further ado, let's dive into the podcast.

unknown 3:31

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Hi, Julianne. I'm so excited that we're finally setting down our time to talk today. We've had to push this a few times, and now we are getting on the mics together. We just had a lovely chat on your podcast. And now you get to sit in the hot seat. And I'm so glad you're here.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Thank you for having me. I know I feel like this came at the perfect time. You know, you and I were trying to get this done before the end of the year. And end of the year is just crazy. And so now we're coming together and we're feeling energized and excited and refreshed in the new year. So I think this actually was the perfect timing.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

It's wild. And I think we're learning so much. Like I think it's crazy that we just met last year. We met during Sarah McCarty's mastermind. She was a guest on our podcast too, with um Run Wild, my child. We met each other, like it's only been a year, really, here, which is crazy. It feels like so much has happened in that time where we set down our intentions for the year last year and how we wanted to grow personally and professionally. And we're all moms juggling this life between motherhood and entrepreneurship and noticing our lives change and processing that all at the same time. So I'm really glad that we're doing this together and that you actually did your podcast and you're doing it. That was one of your big goals. And I'm so proud of you for just going for it.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

Do you remember that? It was, yeah, I'll be nearing one year. I have to mark this on the calendar. I'll be nearing one year of podcasting in April. And that's when I set that intention out in our mastermind with Sarah. I'm so grateful for that group just because of the connections, but also learning from so learning from other women in different genres, different niches, different industries. You obviously being, you know, with your podcast and also your photography business and your online business. And then there was a gal who was in interior design. I learned so much from every single woman in the group. And I just give a shout out to Sarah for being the mastermind behind it all to put us all together and, you know, cultivating a high-caliber group of women that really inspired me to grow forward. And it's hard to believe that I'm coming up on one whole year of podcasting.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

It's incredible. And you're doing a great job. So I want to talk to you today about how you got into this moment of realization that outdoor play wasn't just for kids, and it's actually something that helps shape them and to who they become and is such a powerful tool in your life. Can you can you take us back to that moment that you realized that? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

In the year 2020, I had three kids under three and a half. And I was working full time and in the middle of the night feedings with my youngest, I started listening and reading the book, There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather. Up until that point in time, I think I was just functioning as a normal mom, you know, trying to survive every day. I was working full-time in corporate America, and I was racing to drop my kids off to daycare and then racing to pick them back up before daycare closed. And it was winter time, so I knew that we were coming home and it was dark out. And there had to be a better way of getting around those hours that that felt that felt like a grind, really, of picking them up, coming home, getting dinner on the table, getting bath time in, and then waking up and doing it all over again in the morning. I knew that there had there had to be a better way than just plopping my kids in front of the TV so that I could cook and get things done. And after I read that book, it changed the way I viewed parenting because I loved how she described the outdoor culture in Scandinavia and how it just became a part of everything that they did. And it inspired me to get my kids out in these small pockets in the day. Could I spend three to four hours outside with three kids under the age of three at that time and season of life? No, that wasn't doable for me. But what was doable was finding 15-minute pockets of our day. And so even if I had to work all day long, I raced to pick them up from daycare, race to get them home. And when I really started being intentional about this, it was the dead of winter. There was nothing going on. I live in Michigan. To be quite frank, after Christmas, it's kind of ugly. It's just gray, it's dark, it's cold. There's not much going on for toddlers. And so I would pick them up and I'd throw everybody back on in their winter gear. And you have to remember, I have toddlers. It felt like a lot more work actually putting the gear on for very little payoff. I'll be honest. Those first few months, first few weeks, really, it felt like very little payoff because then we'd go outside on our back patio and we would all just kind of stare at each other. We'd all kind of stare at each other. And I thought, because leading up to this moment, mind you, we had lived in an apartment. We were kind of in this transition of life. And we had lived in a second floor apartment with no backyard. And I thought, oh, I can't wait for the day that I do get a backyard. My kids can play. But even when we were living in the apartment, we were still finding those 15 minutes in our day to take a stroller walk, to splash in some puddles. So here we are, we finally have a backyard. And all of a sudden, my kids are just standing around with their hands in their pockets, like staring at me, like, okay, well, we're out here. What's next? And they're still very young. None of them could really verbalize or communicate. And I just kept doing that every single day. And I would set a timer and I'd keep it on near the window of the back patio. And I'd say, We're gonna be out here for 15 minutes. And a week or two went by, and I started letting my kids, I started going out there with them, and then I'd come and kind of sneak back inside and stand by the table and just watch them. Or I'd find, you know, a basket of laundry to fold that I could do in front of the window. And they would still come up to the window and like peer in, or they'd ask for a snack, they'd knock on the window, and I kept pointing to the timer and saying, We're gonna, you're gonna stay out there for a little bit longer. I know some parents are probably like, how cruel. But two weeks went by and all of a sudden, 15 minutes started growing into 20. 20 started growing into 30. After two, three weeks of doing this, they started venturing further into the yard. They were leaving the patio. They were like going out into the yard and hitting grass, touching grass. And then by springtime, they were out exploring the yard for up to an hour. And again, these are toddlers, so I had to really reframe my expectations of what independent play looked like at that age. But it became this beautiful journey that I had a front seat to where they really started like super clingy. And then all of a sudden, within a month to two months' time, they were completely different kids. They were more regulated when they came back. They were playing together, they weren't bickering as much. I mean, they still fought. They were toddlers. You know, their prefrontal cortexes are not fully formed and they can hardly communicate. But it just brought a sense of peace to their day and to my day. And it became an anchor in our daily rhythm that I could rely on and say, okay, you know what? No matter what's going on, we're all gonna get outside for like 15 minutes. And it just made that part of our day a lot smoother.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

It's amazing. And it's so hard to go from that transition of hustle culture, like when you're in this like corporate world and working and grinding. And even as now, like as content creators, as digital creators here, like you're home, you're working on your own terms, but you're still so zoned in on the creativity sometimes before the kids come home that it's really hard to turn that muscle off to then be like, no, let's focus on outdoor time and play. Like, do you have any tips that you've learned along the way that helped you reframe how you did that? Like for families, like that they can try to get out of that mode of go, go, go and let the kids get outside. Do you have any tips for that?

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yes. And you know, it's interesting because I'm now I'm in a season of life where I have a child that's approaching middle childhood, preteen. And this is a really formative time. And if you think your kids were watching when you're little, because they tell you like the funny, you know, like kids say the darndest things, at this age, they're really watching you. They're really watching you and really watching if you are walking the walk. And so I have had to be humbled by my children in terms of my own screen time usage and my own outdoor time. Because I have kids who have told me, my kids have told me, well, you don't seem really outdoorsy. And I think to myself, before I try to spat something out, I'm like, well, you knew you were a toddler. I took you everywhere, I took you to all the parks, I took you outside, I did this and that. And it's really humbling because they, you know, they're they're watching me. They're watching me very closely. And so my advice is in whatever capacity, when you can turn the work off, or maybe it's saying, I, you know, maybe you're not turning the work off, or you're not unplugging, but saying, hey, I can take 10 or 15 minutes to just sit outside with my kids, or I could take 10 or 15 minutes to watch them bike in the driveway, or throw a football, or throw a baseball with them. Just being clear in setting the expectations with your kids that mommy has to do some work, but I can take a 10-minute break. I can come out there and, you know, do this with you. And then maybe if you still have to return to work and like shut it down, or just knowing when you have a hard stop on things, and I know for everyone that that can look different, but being really intentional about carving out some time to get outside with your kids and leaving the devices, the temptation, the draw of your personal device, your cell phone, taking that completely off the table and just being present with your kids. Like you said, as a content creator, I work a lot on my phone. But even when I was in corporate America, and I think it happens to a lot of parents now too, we can always be plugged into our phone. Whether it's work or paying the bills, you know, everything can be done on your phone nowadays, which is a blessing and a curse, I think. You can check your bank account, you can pay a bill, you can sign up for the five million signup geniuses you have through your kids' school on your phone, but your kids don't know that. Your kids don't know the difference between you having to do work for the family versus you just being head down and scrolling and not paying attention to them. So I would say in whatever capacity that you can, carve out 10 to 15 minutes without your cell phone. Be present with your kids, whether that's a short walk, a bike ride, throwing a ball, or just, you know, being with them in the driveway while they play with um sidewalk chalk. It's worth it and they notice it. And even if your kids are little now, setting aside that intentional time, they will notice it and they'll remember it as they get older.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I need this reminder. It's like I I actually went to bed last night. You know, when you like lay there and you start playing back the day, like that's what I started doing because my kids got outside and were for the first time in a very long time, because it's finally snow melty time. And I just watched them like be out there. They made, they were actually killing me because they made an outdoor area between our garbage and our house with umbrellas because it started to rain. They made this thing and they put little fishing chairs and sat there. And then they brought out toilet paper so they had a bathroom and they brought out all the snacks they could have and all the food. And I was just like, what are you doing? You have a bathroom right inside, and please don't poop in our driveway. And that's like you're gonna need toilet paper more. Like, what are you doing? But it it just killed me to watch like them get outside. And I used that time though to be on my computer. And I was like, let me just get this one last email so that I can be so efficient this week and then I won't have as much tomorrow on my to-do list, and I'm just gonna go while they're being quiet and doing all this. And like it's kind of like that's the goal in a way. Like, you want them to be playing outside so that you have more time to yourself to do the things, but at the same time, like that's not what I want to be showing them. Like, I'm trying to be like, don't go on your tablet, don't go on screen time, don't do these things. And that's exactly what I ran to. So I just sat there going to bed last night, being like, I need to really be conscious of this time to just go out there with them and like spend my time, whether I'm even talking to them. They can go do their little fort and that they've made, but like, I don't have to go on my computer. And I'm really trying to find ways to outsource that side of my life, honestly. Like, so this this like last month, I really realized like, what capacity can we all do in our families and what can be outsourced? What can we afford to outsource? And what does that afford back to us in our life? So I'm really trying to lean into that reframing right now, like getting that help for some people to do the other side of my life so that I can be there. And I know not everybody can afford to do that, but I think even if we can do 10 or 15 minutes, that's the best advice. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

I think as an entrepreneur, it can be so hard to unplug because the work that we're doing, it truly excites me. And I know that there's a lot of admin work to that as well. And, you know, coming from corporate America, and I know coming from your background, it's like this is work that I'm glad to do because I can do it from my home. I can do it on my own terms, and it's work that makes me very excited. But it's also at the same time, you know, if like you said, it's like it's it's the goal. We want our kids to be playing independently, but we we don't want our kids' memory of us to be heads down, you know. My daughter had a famous phrase, you know, the last couple of years. She'd say, Mom, it's eyes up time. And I'm like, that like punches you in the gut, right? And so she hasn't been saying it, you know, lately. So I think uh I've made some improvements in that regard, but it's just those little moments. It's like she said eyes up because she's used to seeing people eyes down. And she, you know, our kids have even made these comments when we're out, you know, in dance practice and in the lobby. It's like all the adults have their eyes down, and it's it is become part of society. We are pulled and drawn into our devices, and you know, it's it's a blessing and a curse. Modern technology, you know, has afforded us a lot of great new things, but also we're we're losing that connection. And that's, you know, a lot of my a lot of what I'm doing here, just to share sharing the message of getting kids outside is is for them, but also connection for moms to get back out in nature, you know, and that it doesn't have to look like taking a vacation far away somewhere, and it doesn't have to look like picking up and driving over to the park. You can simply enjoy nature wherever your feet are, right? You could be walking to the mailbox and notice it's turning to spring here now. You can notice the birds chirping, or even if you're inside and you're opening the window and you can see what's beginning to blossom outside. It's finding these little moments. Because I find that when we practice this, our kids notice it. And it becomes something that becomes their internal practice is just this, you know, noticing the little things, noticing the good things out in nature and being mindful of it.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Do you have a system set up for like all the wet mittens and boots and stuff? Like, it's so overwhelming to me. Like they go outside and then like check it all in, and even though we have a mud room, they bring it to the kitchen and it's like by the sliding glass door that goes outside, and you're like, We just did the floors and now there's mud. Like, how do you get past that? Like, or do you have a system in place that has worked for you with these things, all the things?

SPEAKER_02 18:30

It's so funny. It sounds like our house is set up pretty similarly because my kids' entry to the yard is also through the sliding door. And so over the years, I have taken inventory of where my control issues lie. And it's always with mess and tidiness. And now we're approaching the muddy season. So for winter, you know what it is? The trigger for me is like salt and snow on the floors. The salt accumulation being in Michigan, there's salt on the driveway, there's salt in the, you know, the kids are playing in salt and snow, and it just, or even the snow just leaves like the imprint of it on your on your hardwood floors. And so that used to be a trigger for me. We have actually, practically speaking, my kids have two sets of outdoor gear. So one set lives at school because they have a cubby or a locker and that stays. And that's where I get a lot of that gear is typically secondhand. Like I do not spend a ton of money on that because it's at school, they're wearing it every day, they're, you know, they're getting super dirty and they're playing hard in it, which is great. That's what I want them to do. And then we have a second set at home, which again, it's usually, you know, thrifted or secondhand. And I try to keep them very separate, except for when they come home for break and then all of the things are living everywhere. Um, you know, in the wintertime and the same thing in the springtime, I just lay down. I have, I call them crap towels, and I just lay, I mean, it could literally be for if someone has an accident, if someone laying them down on the floor next to the sliding door where they go outside. And if they come in and they're super muddy, that's where the boots they basically strip down. They strip down all of the outerwear there, and then I can kind of triage from there as to what needs to go where, what needs to get rinsed. And then I also invested in a really great wet mop, which helps with the snow and the muddy season. And then just trying to like loosen up a little bit. Like the other day, my kids went outside and they were out there for a long time, all three of them. And you know, it's great when all three of them are playing nicely together and they're playing creatively. And I hadn't heard from them or seen from seen them in a long time. And then, of course, it was time to bring them in for dinner and they come up, they are filthy, they're wearing all their clothes, and then they turn around and their behinds are filthy on their clothes, on their bodies. And actually, no, I was trying to bring them in for dinner, and I saw them going around to the side of the house to get the hose because they told me they were gonna try to hose themselves off on the side of the house. I'm like, first of all, it was actually pretty warm. It was an unseasonably warm day. But I said, no, no, no, no, no. Like, we're not taking a shower outside. And I have a picture. So going back to what we were talking about earlier, I didn't get pictures of the muddiness, but I have a picture of a heap of clothes that are just filthy. Like the behemoth on all these pants are just smothered in deep caked mud. And so now I'm gonna write a caption underneath that because of your tip that you shared with me. I'm gonna write so I remember that memory. And I, you know, I brought him in and my husband comes in out of his office, and he had the his eyes are asking, like, what in the world? And I'm I'm stifling back laughter because let's be honest, it was hilarious. It was hilarious, and clothes can be washed. And so I think just kind of embracing um, you know, just this is what kids are made to do. And there's so much around mud play, too, that is really nervous system regulating for kids, and it's great for their microbiome. So, in my mind, the internal dialogue I'm trying to have is reminding myself of all of these benefits. Benefits as I'm scrubbing their clothes and rinsing all the mud out. But yeah, I'd say a crap towel. Like get yourself some crap towel old crap towels and lay them down. And those towels aren't meant to be used on bodies. It's just for dirt.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Oh, it's and then if you have to really throw it out because it's gotten to that point, it just go. Like it was the crap towel anyway. It's awesome. This episode of the Frame of Life podcast is sponsored by the Retail Playground, a community created for retail founders, makers, entrepreneurs, and dreamers who are building creative businesses. What I love about the playground is that it's not just resources and workshops, it's a supportive community where wins are celebrated, challenges are shared, and you never feel like you're doing entrepreneurship alone. And because you're a listener of the show, you get an exclusive perk.$15 off your membership every month. I'm thrilled to share it with you. Use the code FOL15 at checkout or click the link in the show notes to join us inside the playground. Do you have any tricks in the summer? Because I'm sure people will be listening to this in the summer. Like I'm already like anticipating that flow of all of the clothes. I feel like it's like so many clothes that get wet and then they're changing again. And then you're going to the pool and you got the pool towels and you got the flip-flops and all of the sun's great. Like, do you have any go-to methods that you use to get yourself out the door and get your family outdoors that have been hacks that have been really helpful?

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Yes. So luckily I'm in a season of life now where the kids are, I'm, you know, empowering them to be responsible for their belongings. But in the past, I would leave a door by the bag. I leave a door by the bag. I had a couple shovels, I had a couple buckets, it had the sunscreen, it had the hats. I mean, for a while, you feel like you're a Sherpa. You know, you feel like you're a Sherpa carrying everyone's stuff and you've got more stuff than you probably need, and your back is starting to ache because you're carrying all the stuff, all the snacks, all the water bottles. But I just have kind of like a go bag, like an adventure go bag by the door. And I didn't care how dirty it got. The one that I had was like easily easy to wipe down and easy to, you know, for sand to get through. And I would just keep that there. And then I'd keep it or I'd keep it in the trunk of my car. Of course, it gets, you know, it gets hot here in the in the summertime. So obviously you couldn't keep anything in there that would melt. But I would keep it near the door or in the trunk of my car. I would keep a potty in my car. I kept extra wipes. I kept for a while there. And depending on what we do, I had a big Stanley like jug with a spout for water. And I would keep extra, I would fill it up with water and ice because when you're out, everyone gets thirsty, you know, they want to refill their water bottle. So I had that in the back of the car. And that was actually pretty genius for a while there. But, you know, in terms of managing the home, it's certainly not a strength of mine. So I definitely outsource and rely on others who who do that well. And so I try to do one load of laundry a day. So even with the influx of clothes, especially when the kids are home, I have boys who love to change five times a day. Five times a day. They can't wear a wet bathing suit. So I try to stay on top of it by just doing like one load of laundry a day. And then I also have given up on backyard landscaping and it becomes an area where we lay out all the bathing suits. It just kind of is a very lived-in backyard. So when the kids are changing bathing suits or hanging, we're hanging towels out there, we're hanging bathing suits, we're we're emptying out coolers and letting coolers dry out in the sun. It's very functional. It's it's not pretty back there. It's just, it's kind of like an extension of our home, our backyard.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Oh, that's really helpful. It's just as relatable too, in a way, because I think Instagram makes it feel like everything's just so perfect all the time. Like people have all these systems and everybody's just happy. Like they have their snacks are just so perfectly labeled, they're never missing a flip-flop. You know, it's just like very easy, but it's not that easy. And it's really great to hear from a mom who is an outdoorsy mom and is outside all the time with their kids that it's not perfect and it doesn't need to be. And there's really no way to be perfect with this. You have to just let you gotta let a lot of shit go. Totally.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

From June, from June to September, October, my car is a sandbox. Yeah. It's a sandbox. We actually had a friend of ours, one of my kids' friends, in the car, and she looked up at the ceiling and she said, What's on the ceiling?

SPEAKER_01 26:28

I'm gonna take a picture. I have that too. I have a yogurt. It's on my ceiling. And you know what?

SPEAKER_02 26:35

It hasn't, we've never, we've never cleaned it. And actually, one of my things too, you know, we talk about outsourcing. One of the greatest gifts I gave myself was a monthly car wash membership that does the exterior and interior. And, you know, listen, do they do like a full detail? No, but do they do more than I'd ever do on a given Tuesday? Yes. Yes, they do. So that was well worth it to me. And especially here because you've got so many of the different elements. You've got winter and snow and salt, and then the summertime, it's sand and mud and you know, who knows what else. That was something that snacks, yogurts on the on the ceiling, smoothies. It was well worth it to me to spend my money that way.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

I know. It's it's really, it's like what I was kind of hinting at in the beginning. It's like, where can your money go that can help you in ways that you don't need to spend your time doing? Like actually cleaning the car out is one of the ways that I can, when it's nice out, that I cannot be on my screen and get my kids involved and they're outside. And it's helping me. Like I'm always like, I have to be busy doing something. It's really hard to just sit there. So I guess my next question for you is have you seen any benefits in your kids that you can concretely tell us that has changed in them from being outside versus when they're inside? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

You know, what's interesting, as I mentioned earlier, uh my oldest is approaching middle childhood. And I've started this intentionality when they were three and under. So I've had a pretty good bank of years to watch my kids be transformed by unstructured outdoor play or independent outdoor play. And what I have seen from the fruit of all of that work is that my kids have tremendous problem solving skills. They are resilient and they're confident in ways that, you know, playing inside can't really replicate. You know, even if they're playing creatively or doing something cool inside, there's just a different vibe when you're outdoors. And I watch my kids be confident in exploring or heading out into the woods, or even if when they're somewhere that's new to them, an outdoor space, they know they are confident in navigating and also confident in their awareness of, you know, what to be looking out for and things like that. It's made them curious. It's made their indoor play even more creative by playing outside and not having a lot of actual toys. It's very normal for my kids to go outside with nothing. And 20 minutes later, I look over, they've got sticks, they've got dirt, they've got mud, they might have a bowl or something that's in our outdoor kitchen. And they're immersed in play for 30 minutes with nothing but things that they found outside. And so I've seen that translate to their indoor play, and it's made them a lot more creative. And sometimes when I watch them, I think, you know, they're having their own conversations and they're creating this their own world out there that I'm not privy to. And that just reminds me of what our childhoods were like. You know, we were 90s babies and 90s kids. And I know so many of us that want that for our kids is to kind of return to this simpler time. And so I would say that, yeah, the things that I've, the biggest things I've noticed is confidence, their ability to play for long periods of time. So the focus is there, right? I read somewhere that it takes kids sometimes upwards of 45 minutes to get immersed into deep play. You know, so the first 15 minutes, sometimes you get just whining or, you know, they're bored. But if they can break past like 30 minutes, that's when this deep creative, independent play begins. And I've seen that if we can just, you know, keep them out there. Sometimes you might have to soft launch them with a task or like, hey, can you go collect 10 sticks? Or, you know, let me give you this bucket. Like, go see what you can find and see what you can fill up this bucket with, or a backpack with like a rope and something like that. And like I said, their creativity, it really has just flourished. And also their ability to be resourceful in their play. You know, it's like you think about sometimes toys that live in the inside of our homes, they can be very single use. Well, a stick can have mul you know, multiple purposes. It can turn into a fishing pole, it can turn into a wand, it can turn into a sword, it can turn into a writing utensil. And so I think it's really fascinating because all of those different play affordances, as you will, start to create all these different synapses in the brain, right? The kids' brains are growing so much. And I love that playing outdoors and playing with the things that they find in nature is creating new neural pathways. I mean, I think that's incredible. Um, and so sometimes, you know, we look at outdoor play and it's like, yeah, it's just so good for them. Well, really, yes, it is good for them. And here's why because it's creating new synapses in the brain. It's actually the brain growing in motion, right? So I think that's really beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Oh, it's awesome. And can you tell us a little bit more about raising outdoor confident kids, your rock themed? Yes. Is it a course or is it a workbook? Uh, how are you offering that right now?

SPEAKER_02 31:46

It is a playbook. It's a digital guide that we will be available at the end of this month. And it's really helping parents raise outdoor confident kids who want to explore, to help them problem solve, to build independence through outdoor play. And much of it is really my own lived-in motherhood of having done this now or kind of implementing these outdoor rhythms in my own family life that I gleaned on and write a lot about inside of rock. And, you know, I have a heart too for kids who are strong-willed or sensory seeking. You know, if you have more than, well, there's always one. There's always one, right? And that one, that one helps you write all the books. It helps you write, um, it helps you write a lot of deep journal reflections, it helps you pray. But yes, it was kind of born out of this child who is high energy sensory seeking, but also just how do we create these rhythms in our life to support motherhood and to support our children's growth? And we found that in our family. And I think that more families can benefit from utilizing outdoor time as an outdoor rhythm or as a rhythm in their family life to help support our children in all of the things that we talk about today, you know, problem solving, independence, confidence, resilience, a lot of these things that are missing. And, you know, quite honestly, they just don't get from a screen, right? Like, are we anti-screen? No, we're not anti-screen. We are like we're we're we're low screen, I would say. We've created really good boundaries around our screen time usage. But yeah, you know, if we're on vacation or we're if it's a travel day, if it's a travel day, like anything goes, we look forward to as a family our Friday night movie nights. We're just, you know, we're trying to be really strategic and intentional with how we use our screen time. And it's typically um a way that connects us or brings us all like physically together.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Oh, I love this so much. And I think by the time that this episode airs, this will be available. So I would definitely link that in the show notes because I think I can't wait to get my hands on the copy of it. It's always good to have new resources for giving us these ideas and support for getting outside and doing something when we just don't know what to do next.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Yes, yes. And it's it's gonna be, you know, especially as I I mentioned earlier, I speak from experience in parenting a child whose energy just seems too big for the room. You know, you there's I don't wanna like label kids, but we've, you know, I have a child who is brilliant and has so much energy. And so as a parent, how do we help them to make wise decisions about their body? How do we help them to make wise decisions when it comes to creating boundaries and helping them play safely? And so those are all things that I have failed at many times and then finally got to the other side and learned a few things. So it's all kind of based on my lived-in motherhood experience.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

I love it so much. So I want to wrap us up today with a couple sort of rapid fire questions that I like to ask. My first one being, what would you describe as your superpower?

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Great question. My superpower is I I don't give up. I don't give up easily. I give it everything. And if it's not working, I pivot. And that's kind of been a recurring theme in my life is by the grace of God, I have just been able to like take a no and okay, like either sit with it and try something else or try something different. But there's that kind of resiliency that's been a theme from, you know, as a kid to adulthood that no isn't always the final answer. And um, just keep trying. Well, I love that way. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Oh, do you do you have a mom hack or an entrepreneur hack that you swear by that you'd love to share today?

SPEAKER_02 35:24

You know, we talked about this earlier, but get good at self-awareness and the things that you're not good at, you know? I am not good at managing the household as a whole. I think, you know, we've talked about this before, but motherhood lends itself to a lot of ADHD tendencies. And so the things that I'm not good at, I've learned to outsource it or to learn from someone who is really good at it and take like one thing from that. For example, there's this, you know, content creator I follow, and it's all about mom hacks. And what's my one takeaway from her? My one takeaway was one load of laundry a day. One load of laundry a day helps me to feel like I checked that box. It helps me from having to do six hours of laundry on a Sunday, and it's made life a little bit easier. So I don't have to implement all the things. Like, what's the one thing that I can implement? And for me, it was that one load of laundry a day. I love it so much. Um, do you have any favorite recent purchases? Oh, yes. So as I'm sitting in my area where I have my standing desk, which I do love and it's functional, my this is kind of funny. My walking pad. So, you know, I live in Michigan and we go through uh, I don't know, six, seven months of cold and gloom. And I, especially for someone who tries to do a lot of different things at a lot, you know, at different times or tries to multitask. The walking pad helps me get stuff done. You know, I'm beginning to really empathize with my kiddos who struggle with focus because when I'm on my walking pad, I've got my headphones on, I'm like knocking things out in rapid fire time. So I love my walking pad.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

I do too. I'm actually sitting at my standing desk with my walking pad right next to me. There you go. It's like I gotta use it more.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

I know. But I thought about that before our interview. I'm like, can I put it underneath and just do like my bottom half?

SPEAKER_01 37:13

Yeah, I know, but you could hear it, which otherwise I would. Okay. And then do you have a favorite book or resource that you would recommend to our listeners that either maybe it's related to out getting outdoors or it's one that just inspires you or has gotten you through this latest season?

SPEAKER_02 37:28

Yes, gosh. I read a lot of these parenting books. So the one that I mentioned earlier is There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather, written by Linda Akison. That was the one that opened my eyes to how Scandinavian culture really embraces everything and like just spending more time outside and cultivating this curiosity and wonder in my children for getting outdoors. So that was the one that really I had the aha moment there. And then also, I've had her as a guest on my podcast, but the book Balanced and Barefoot by Angie Hanscom. And it's really takes you behind in terms of the physiology of why getting outside and spending time outside in nature is so important for kids. What does it help grow in their brains and their bodies and things that, you know, come up later on in childhood that sometimes we struggle with can often be pointed back to a reflex or type some type of skill that wasn't that kids did maybe didn't spend that much time in earlier on in childhood. So it's really fascinating. Those two books I would highly recommend for listeners.

SPEAKER_01 38:31

Awesome. And what's the best way for us to get a hold of you and to follow along on your journey?

SPEAKER_02 38:36

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram at My Outdoors EMom. You can listen in to my podcast, which is the My Outdoorsy Mom podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts. And then I'll be releasing um that guide raising outdoor confident kids soon, later on this month. So we can put the link in the show notes to join my email list in the show notes. And yeah, that's just about everywhere you can find me.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Yeah, I love your emails too. I haven't seen them in a while, but I will keep it but you're really great at writing emails, so they're fun to read.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Thank you. I hope to get them back soon. I know I was actually literally just looking at my email newsletter. I have to revive it.

SPEAKER_01 39:14

I know it's hard. You can't do all the things, so some things have to drop. So it's fine. Well, thank you, Julianne, so much for being on the show. I learned so much from you, and I think our listeners are going to be inspired to get outdoors, and I can't wait to see the pictures that they take of it. Thanks so much for having me. No problem. Okay. Okay, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go outside the second I finish recording this. And it is still kind of grows out. So I'm hoping that things turn around. But when you hear this episode, it just makes you want to get outside and try it, even if it's not the best weather. I hope that you're listening and it is nice weather and it's very easy to get outside, and you get to feel the benefits of your kids soaking in that outdoor air. And you take that time to shut your laptop and put down the laundry and just go outside with them for a few minutes, even if you're not playing with them. But you put your feet in the grass and look up at the sky and notice the world around you and just breathe it in a little bit because this is a wild time. And sometimes we need to take life less seriously and give ourselves a quick 15 minutes outside. Um, and then leave the kids alone because honestly, they do some incredible things out there when we step back and let them be. And if you're in that age, um my kids are six and nine right now, and I feel like we're unlocking a whole new level of world where they can explore a little bit more on their own and really just start to spread their wings. So it's a really fun time that I'm excited to lead into. And my most favorite takeaway from this entire episode was the crap towels. Um, I feel like I'm a hoarder of towels. I never want to get rid of them, but crap towels are really coming in handy, and I think that's the great way to call them. So I am not gonna get rid of those. They're like, I've been calling them my dog towels, but um, crap towels seem a lot better. So um right up my alley. So I'm gonna use that word from now on, and I'm going to just put them all in one space near the door so that I can grab the kids right now because it is a muddy season. If you want to connect with Julianne, you can find her over on Instagram at My Outdoorsy Mom or on her podcast, My Outdoorsy Mom Podcast, wherever you listen. Um, and if you pick check it out right now, I'm gonna be on there next week and it'll be really fun. You can hear more about my story and some memory keeping tips because I know that's what you're all here for, and we're gonna be bringing back a lot more of those episodes in the future. We may be changing the cadence of this podcast a little bit. So we're not gonna be coming in every week as we have been, but we will be still here just bringing in some more deeper memory keeping content for you coming forward. So, with that, I would love to hear from you in my DMs at Frame of Life Project. And I hope that if this episode sparked anything inside of you, that you share it with a friend. Thank you so much for being here, and I will talk to you soon.