Fritz Blackburn Blogs
Sep 4, 2017
Travel Parenting
by Fritz Blackburn
Rating:
(3.5 out of 5 stars)
ISBN: 978-1-927479-87-2
Copyright: © 2015 Fritz Blackburn
Genre: Parenting
Pages: 152 pages
Summary
Fritz takes us on an insightful journey with parent's lenses on how to best prepare our kids for life (not just for travel). It's an engaging narrative full of mindful observation about how kids see the world around them and how we, as over-protective parents, tend to anaesthetize their experience by being too careful. Fritz teaches us how to trust our kids' inate ability to deal with nature, bringing out in them, the natural instinct honed by millions of years of evolution.
Nature's Way
The author's push is more along the lines of how a tribal baby grows in the midst of nature, acknowledging the symbiosis between the two - knowing that fire was meant to give warmth and cook food, not a thing to be fearful of, trusting in the child's natural healing ability instead of administering the pill at the outset, allowing kids to meet people openly which only sharpens their skill in reading people. The harsh realities of nature are not concealed from them - withnessing death as well as birth in better appreciation of the cycle of life. Fritz challenges his daughters to outwit or outstrategize animals on a level playing field. It may not be the way humans think but the way animals adapt to their environment is more elegant, innovative and seamless to nature.
Failure of the School System
Fritz is highly critical of the current school system, describing it as, "incredibly limited, arbitrarily selective, and presented in a unreal and disconnected ways" without covering essential bases like, "survival skills, spiritual awareness, body knowledge, healing, different cultures, character-building, psychology, emotional awareness, observation and social skills!". He maintains that History, the way it's being taught to our kids is biased and written by those who won the war. That Democracy is rammed-down their throats as the end-all and be-all of all forms of goverment. That religion is a massive brainwash without lending itself to spirituality.
Traveling
When traveling, Fritz lets loose the kids to interact with the locals, mostly learning something new about their tradition, music, arts and crafts. They add to their life skills like adding more tools into a human Swiss Army Knife - hunting, fishing, sailing, martial arts. etc. Fritz also dispenses a lot of travel dos-and-donts gleaned from the trench-warfare of traveling.
Ending Thoughts
The book could have been more aptly entitled, "Primal Parenting" or "Fritz's Anti-Establishment Crusade" - given his biased disdain for the establishment. The author has a tendency to say in 5 words what can be said in 4, but it helps underscore his point by way of more anecdotal narratives, a few rants and some textbook-feel discourse. Altogether, it's a refreshing look at alternative parenting - trusting in the evolutionary process of man and nature rather than taking refuge in the sanitized culture of an artificial polite society.
--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit 
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disclosure: I am socially acquainted with the author. I have spent time with him and his kids (not really kids anymore). Truly, Fritz has a unique way of seeing reality and his role in it.
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