Recently, a friend told me I have six more summers with my daughter.
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Six.
Six summers until we are outfitting my girl’s dorm room. Six summers until the world calls her an adult. Six summers until my girl no longer bounces around our house chomping on sour cream and chive potato chips.
Six.
Really, how can this be? I just delivered the girl once a schedule gave birth last week, and the doctors and nurses told my husband and I we could take our baby girl home from the hospital. We thought it was an insane idea. I mean, hello, we just met the kid, and we didn’t know anything about babies. We put our girl in a very uncomfortable (but extremely adorable) outfit. We fumbled with the dreaded, fifty-pound bucket seat, and then we slowly drove forty-five miles an hour and headed home.
“What are we supposed to do now?” I wondered aloud.
My husband shrugged, and we decided to go to Burger King. I ordered onion rings, and that is the last thing I remember, onion rings.
Now, I only have six more summers with my beauty, the one who is all legs and full of endless stories and high-pitched giggles.
The one who forces me to open my eyes wide and sip each day slowly.
And it was this thought which prompted me to think about Raising Strong Girls: 88 Acts of Independence and Adventure
Our family has loads of unscheduled summer lounging in our future (trust me, we dominate spending time together in a nonstructured way), but I also want to be intentional with my girl.
My girl and I made this list for you. It is a list promoting independence and adventure. This list longs to hang on your refrigerator. Go ahead, and take down the school lunch menu, and you will have the perfect spot for it (scroll down, and you can print it off because it is also a snazzy printable).
This list contains 88 acts of adventure and independence for girls. It includes perfect ways to spend time together, starting points for conversations, ideas for battling the beast of boredom, and reminders for our girls to play hard. Plus, if your girl is anything like mine, she loves a good checklist, and her little adventurous self can check off items as she goes.
88 Acts of Independence and Adventure
- Understand how to use a circuit breaker
- Learn to code
- Tread water
- Determine if someone has a fever
- Identify editable flowers
- Create a short film
- Read a book in one day
- Catch a baseball
- Make a slingshot
- Rock climb
- Design a website
- Identify local trees
- Iron
- Create an outdoor fort
- Check the oil in a car
- Throw a Frisbee
- Memorize Scripture
- Throw a baseball
- Sew a button
- Make an obstacle course
- Play Jacks
- Paddleboard
- Understand how-to consume information online (in a healthy way!)
- Design a kite that really flies
- Make jam
- Mow the grass
- Learn to use a hammer
- Catch a frog
- Complete a 1000 piece puzzle
- Climb a tree
- Run a 5K
- Drive a boat
- Make bread
- Volunteer
- Bake a cake from scratch
- Grow vegetables
- Learn two jump rope songs
- Build a zipline
- Play football
- Come up with a catchphrase
- Build a fire
- Learn how-to mind map
- Kayak
- Say no
- Learn a new language
- Chop wood
- Sew curtains
- Make a candle
- Design and build a mini-waterpark
- Put a chain on a bicycle
- Pitch a tent
- Paint a room
- Create a budget
- Reupholster a chair
- Study bees
- Use a rope swing to jump into a lake
- Write a poem
- Read a map
- Handwrite a two-page letter
- Learn basic substitutions for cooking
- Learn how to treat minor burns
- Start a rock collection
- Invent something new
- Take a class
- Do a handstand in the lake
- Learn to ride a horse
- Stand up for a friend
- Play a musical instrument
- Treat a minor cut
- Learn to skateboard
- Identify poison ivy
- Hang a swing in a tree
- Put a chain back on a bike
- Read a book over 100 years old
- Inflate a flat bike tire
- Cook over a campfire
- Speak in front of a group
- Ride a bike no-handed
- Write a book
- Jump a car
- Play hopscotch
- Design a video game
- Attend a rally
- Ride a skateboard
- Hike a mountain
- Read the Bible
- Try out for something
- Ask for help when you need it
And here’s the fun news! If you want a copy of our list, it’s yours (Strong Girls Can: 88 Acts of Independence and Adventure). Should you want to create your own Raising Strong Girls list instead, do it!
Keep me posted on strong girl happenings in your house!
Share photos of what your strong girl is up to (or have her share them) in the Private Parenting Facebook Community via social media or using the contact form here. Make sure to tag Amy or Lee Felix and use the hashtag #RaisingGodlyGirls
Here’s to summer, strong moms, and strong girls!
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Make sure to hop over and check out Amy’s latest post 11 Things Your Daughter Needs to Hear You Say
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∞ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ∞
Amy L. Sullivan. Determined dreamer. Fan of early mornings, dangly earrings, and the underdog. Author of Gutsy Girls: Strong Christian Women Who Impacted the World. Find her at AmyLSullivan.com.
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