Mother Nature's forgotten priority: Her children

Guest blogger Christine Fanning is Executive Director of the Outdoor Foundation, dedicated to inspire and grow future generations of outdoor enthusiasts. Chris is a former team member of the Case Foundation, and we are so glad she can continue to add her perspective, especially as we all celebrate Earth Day today. 

Admittedly, motherhood is a mystery to me. What little I know comes from daily calls with my sister and occasional conversations with friends. But those talks are enough for me to know that moms have the most difficult job in the world, but also the most important.

So in celebration of Earth Day, I’d like to acknowledge the extraordinary job that Mother Nature has done. To get us to reuse and recycle, to off-set and carpool, are major accomplishments and thankfully the world is now heading in a healthier direction. But I believe Mother Nature forgot about her top priority: children.

Kids today suffer from something most of us have never heard of – nature deficit disorder.

How did paper or plastic become a more important question than park or playground? How have we allowed kids to spend eight hours a day in front of a TV or computer screen and only 4 minutes outdoors? How have we forgotten the extraordinary impact the outdoors can have on confidence, creativity and even family closeness?

It’s time for each of us all - moms and dads, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors - to close out, power down and go outside! It’s fun!!