Preparing for residential

In this episode, I am joined by my daughter Daizy. She is preparing for an exciting residential trip (2 nights camping and outdoor activities).  She is a little nervous about going but we have talked things through and she has some good tips for any other children feeling a little worried about going away from home for the first time. 

As a mother I am feeling anxious too but I want to be super supportive of the amazing experiences she will have and can't wait to hear all about them. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi and welcome to the Nature's Wonder Podcast where we thrive when we go outside. Today I'm really excited because I'm being joined on my podcast by one of my favourite people in the world, my daughter. Hi Daisy. Hi guys. Are you excited to be with me here? Yes. Okay, what are we going to be talking about today, Daisy? Oh, my residential that's coming up this week. Mmm, that's right. So Daisy is going on a residential. She's going to be camping and she's going to be having an amazing time in the Peak District. So this is your first residential overnight stay, isn't it, Daisy? How are you feeling?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Well, I was a bit nervous, nervous at first, but the thing is I got a lot of counsel from my teachers because they helped me realize that it was okay to be nervous. Everybody got nervous. And also my friend, also my friend as well, she said to me, um, yeah, I sometimes miss my mum a lot when on when we're on these residentials. So then I just realized it's something that everybody goes through, and I just thought that I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Very good. Now, some of the exciting things that are you you're going to be doing, it's a little bit like forest school, but on a much bigger scale, isn't it? Um, so some of the things we do at forest school, we do archery, we do cooking, we've got the zipline, um, things like that, but and also obviously woodwork. But what are some of the things that you're looking forward to doing on this residential?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Well, um they told us the activities that they didn't tell us what we were going to be doing, but the thing is they told us all the activities that other schools might be doing and we might be doing. So then the activities are rough building, survival skills, mountain climbing, caving. We're definitely doing the mountain climbing and caving because I've seen inside the caves and they're really, really cool. And it's like my second time being in a real life cave because I've never actually been in a cave before, but I'm really excited for that, and there's a zip-wise well, mountain biking, yeah, and all is that all of that time is spent outside, and we're gonna also have be camping outside in a nearby field. So then when it's breakfast time, we don't have to walk miles and miles and miles to get to the main building, so we just have to like walk over a bridge and then we see the main building.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Oh, that sounds really exciting. I'm really excited for you. Um, what's one of the best things about spending all that time outdoors, even though the weather's not going to be amazing?

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Well, the thing is, it teaches you survival skills and you get to have lots of fun with your friends, and then if it rains at night time, the tents are waterproof by the way, so hopefully the rain won't come in. So then we we will tell stories there, and then we'll just feel really cozy when the rain's pattering on the tent, and it'll just feel like you're inside your cozy cabin, log cabin in the snow, and it's just like you hear the snow coming down on your roof, and then you it just feels so relaxing and you feel so safe. It's like when a thunderstorms outside and you're inside, it just feels so cozy.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Wow, you painted a lovely picture there for us, Daisy. Thank you. Um and is there anything that you're not really looking forward to?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Well, I'm not looking forward to Well, I'm not looking forward to night time because um I'm very close to you, aren't I? Yes, you're so then usually you're just like next door, and then I can hear you doing stuff like your ironing and reading your book and talking to Dad. But the thing is now it's just gonna be me, probably three other girls or one other girl. Um I'm not gonna be hearing your voice, and that kind of comfort me to sleep by myself and then make me feel nice and safe. So that's why I'm worried about the sleeping.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Okay, so what precautions do you have in place then? So, what systems do you have in place to get to kind of support you? Because obviously it is gonna be tough, but you want to get through it. Um, you've set yourself this challenge, you're determined. We're encouraging you to go for it. So, what do you have when you'll be feeling a little bit anxious at night?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

So, well, they said I could bring like an audiobook player. Um, we got a Voxbox and we are sponsoring Voxblocks today.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah, yeah, VoxBlox. If they want to sponsor us, that would be fantastic. We think it's a great programme, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

It's a great one. Because if you get uh 10 tokens, then you can post it to them and you can get a free audiobook. And it's really nice because it you don't need Wi-Fi for it. You can walk around, listen to it in your headphones, and it's so easy to charge. It comes with a charger with it, you can just plug it in, and it only takes like a few minutes to charge, half an hour, and a long battery life, so it'll probably still um still last me a long time, even for the two nights I'm staying there. Yeah, and also you've got you've got a squishy toy, haven't you? Yeah, I've got Yolly from the Squishmallow Foundation. I really, really we wouldn't mind some sponsorship from them too. I really love squishmallows because they're so snuggly, and then you can just hug them when you're sleeping, and it feels like you're hugging your parents or somebody you really love. And then also You've got your pillow. Yeah, I've got my pillow. Your own sleeping bag.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Oh, in a nice, comfortable sleeping bag. Oh, you know what we could do is put a few drops of lavender oil. So I uh I really love all the doTERRA oils, and they're safe for children as well. And one of them is lavender, and lavender is very good for mang, that's right, it makes you feel much more relaxed and will help you. So we could probably put a few drops of that onto your sleeping bag, yeah, and then you can just take a deep breath in and just calm yourself. Also, we have obviously spoken to your teachers and they're going to be very supportive. So if you can't sleep, you can go and wake one of them up. Well, hopefully not though.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Uh well, one of my teachers he said that when he goes on the residentials, he doesn't fall asleep until he knows everybody's asleep. And then he said to me, You can come to me anytime. And also, I found out he was going he's my group leader as well. He told me just to say, Oh, guess what? I'm in your group, and um like and then because I really like him, he's really supportive as well. Because I sometimes have him on a Friday, and he helps me with my verbal, non-verbal reasoning because I'm gonna start my 11 plus.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

That's right. So now everybody knows how old you are. Um, so that's fantastic. So you've got great support network of teachers, you've got a good you've got friends, and you're going to be in amazing countryside, and it's just gonna be so beautiful, and you are gonna have incredible stories that you're gonna be able to tell me and daddy all about when you come back, and you're going to be one experience richer because if you don't do it, I think you will feel disappointed with yourself, disappointed, and kind of have that FOMO we were talking about, fear of missing out, because it just sounds like a really, really wonderful experience, and it's not that far away, as you know. Yes, okay. So, we're gonna wish Daisy the very, very best for her residential, and hopefully, we could do a podcast when you come back and you could tell everybody how wonderful it was. Hopefully, the world will be even better, and some of these wonderful experiences that you will have had. And one of the things that we often feel when we're outside is we feel so much more confident about things, don't we? Um, we can feel just really better about everything, can't we? Yeah, so have a fantastic trip, Daisy, and we look forward to hearing all about it. Thank you for coming on my podcast. You're welcome, then everybody else, we hope that you have a wonderful few days and please just go outside because when we go outside, we thrive and make sure that you always go outside and have a lovely bang on day.