All of our kids know that I’m TERRIFIED of heights. Absolutely, positively, petrified. I try everything possible to stay at the bottom of the mini-mountain that so many of them love to play on because I am so frightened of climbing up it. On Friday though, two kids convinced me that it was worth scaling the mountain.

This experience, which was probably ten minutes max, has me thinking a lot about risk-taking. How do we model for kids what risk-taking might look like? How do we show our vulnerability by also leaning on others when we take these risks? The mountain climb might seem like a small one for many, but for me, it was a big deal and our students know that. Sometimes I wonder if we share this uncertainty enough with children and if we should be sharing it more. As another week begins, I’m reminding myself about the need to demonstrate some bravery: safe and reasonable risks with the backing of others when required. Will you be doing the same? What might your mountain moments be?

Aviva