1KHO 506: 1000 Hours Outside is the Key to Accessing Joy as a Parent | Lindsey Prell, Ordinary on Purpose

Summary

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Episode: 1KHO 506: 1000 Hours Outside is the Key to Accessing Joy as a Parent | Lindsey Prell, Ordinary on Purpose
Host: Ginny Urch
Guest: Lindsey Prell, Author of Ordinary on Purpose
Release Date: June 19, 2025

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Introduction

In the 1KHO 506 episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, host Ginny Urch welcomes Lindsey Prell, author of Ordinary on Purpose, to discuss the profound impact that spending time outdoors has had on her life as a parent. The conversation delves into personal struggles, the benefits of outdoor play for children, homeschooling, and the importance of community support.

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Personal Struggles and the Search for Joy

Lindsey begins by sharing her journey over the past five years, marked by personal suffering and a quest to understand its roots. She recounts her experience in a women's group where she realized that many parents are grappling with similar uncertainties about their lives and parenting choices.

[01:12] Lindsey Prell: "I went on a huge personal growth journey through counseling, through quite a bit of reading... and things have started to fall into place for me."

Lindsey identifies the influence of societal expectations and the constant comparison to others as significant factors contributing to parental stress and dissatisfaction.

[04:50] Lindsey Prell: "What we are seeing is we're seeing sort of like the culmination of people's everything... they're making, you know, this lifestyle out of that."

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Impact of Social Media and External Influences

A critical turning point for Lindsey was recognizing how external ideas and social media were affecting her plans and causing confusion within her marriage. She shares how differing visions with her husband regarding their family's future led to a period of frustration and lack of direction.

[04:42] Lindsey Prell: "He sat me down and he's like, I. I'm not sure what our focus is, and we're spending a lot of time spinning our wheels."

Lindsey emphasizes the necessity of looking inward rather than outward for fulfillment and success, distancing herself from societal pressures.

[06:37] Ginny Urch: "You wrote down on page 83, you put in there, be the odd one. And when I was reading this, I had that aha moment."

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Finding Community and Support

Amidst her struggles, Lindsey found solace and support through a small group led by Victoria, which proved transformative for her marriage and personal well-being. She describes how reaching out for help led to meaningful connections and communal support.

[15:11] Lindsey Prell: "There was this saving grace... it was just one of those moments for us, and it was so awkward..."

The introduction of Tyler and Hannah, a couple from town who became close friends, further strengthened her support system, illustrating the power of community in overcoming personal challenges.

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Embracing Homeschooling and Outdoor Play

Transitioning to homeschooling, Lindsey discusses how her dissatisfaction with traditional schooling systems' limited outdoor time influenced her decision to homeschool her children. She highlights the importance of physical activity and outdoor exploration in child development.

[23:14] Lindsey Prel: "Our son is a rising kindergartner. One of the big positives for us was that he would be able to be physically active way more."

Lindsey shares practical strategies for balancing work and homeschooling by employing nannies who support the educational process, ensuring her children receive ample outdoor time and personalized learning experiences.

[29:06] Ginny Urch: "It's easy to see how homeschooling can be challenging for working parents, but Lindsey shows practical ways to make it work."

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Benefits of the Outdoors for Family Well-being

Lindsey passionately advocates for the benefits of outdoor time, sharing personal anecdotes that demonstrate how nature positively affects both parents and children. She describes moments where simply being outside transformed her perspective and enhanced her family's happiness.

[41:37] Lindsey Prel: "It's the overthinking I do as a parent that causes me all this stress and anxiety and worry."

She recounts a memorable experience where her son built a relationship with an elderly neighbor, highlighting how outdoor interactions foster community bonds and personal growth.

[09:09] Lindsay Prel: "It's a beacon of light for me. I see it, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, the adventures that are coming our way."

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Shifting Mindset and Embracing Gratitude

A pivotal aspect of Lindsey's transformation was shifting her mindset from seeking external solutions to appreciating her current life. She discusses how this mental shift led to increased joy and fulfillment without the need for drastic changes.

[35:56] Lindsey Prel: "I started to think, well, how can I make my life feel better without doing anything? And I got into this idea about mindset."

This change not only improved her personal well-being but also positively influenced her marriage and parenting, demonstrating the ripple effect of gratitude and appreciation.

[54:32] Ginny Urch: "Appreciate the life you've been given. That's really powerful."

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Practical Advice for Parents

Towards the end of the episode, Lindsey offers actionable advice for parents feeling overwhelmed:

1. Face Your Struggles: Acknowledge and confront your feelings instead of ignoring them.
2. Build Community: Seek support from groups and friends who understand and can offer assistance.
3. Embrace the Outdoors: Prioritize outdoor time for both you and your children to enhance well-being.
4. Shift Your Mindset: Focus on gratitude and appreciation to transform your outlook on life.
5. Be Flexible: Adapt your homeschooling and parenting strategies to fit your family's unique needs.

[55:53] Lindsey Prel: "As an average mom who has her hands overflowing with responsibility, it has been the key to accessing joy as a parent."

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Closing Memories

In the heartfelt conclusion, Lindsey shares her favorite childhood memory, a formative experience that solidified her love for the outdoors and adventure.

[58:17] Lindsey Prel: "We went whitewater rafting... I got to go whitewater rafting. It was the most beautiful experience of my childhood."

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Key Takeaways

• Outdoor Time is Crucial: Unrestricted outdoor play significantly contributes to childhood development and parental joy.
• Community Support Matters: Building a supportive community can transform personal struggles and enhance family life.
• Mindset Shift is Powerful: Adopting a mindset of gratitude and appreciation can lead to increased happiness and fulfillment.
• Flexible Homeschooling: Balancing work and homeschooling is achievable with the right support systems and mindset.
• Personal Stories Inspire: Sharing personal journeys can spark hope and provide actionable insights for others facing similar challenges.

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Notable Quotes

• Lindsey Prell: “[06:37]…today's ideas come in like a never ending torrent of rain. How do we differentiate between the good ideas, the bad ones, and the innocuous ones?”
• Lindsey Prell: “[35:57]…when you shift your mindset, you show up as a better teammate, a better wife, a better mom.”
• Ginny Urch: “[54:32]…when you appreciate the life you've been given, it ripples out and affects other people.”

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Conclusion

This episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast offers a deep dive into the transformative power of outdoor time and community support in parenting. Lindsey Prell's candid recounting of her struggles and triumphs serves as an inspiring guide for parents seeking joy and balance in their lives. By embracing homeschooling, prioritizing outdoor activities, and shifting her mindset towards gratitude, Lindsey not only found personal fulfillment but also strengthened her family bonds and community connections.

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For more insights and inspiring stories, tune in to The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast and embark on your own journey to reclaiming joy through the great outdoors.

Transcript

[Lindsay Prel]

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[Ginny Urch]

Fort Wayne, Indiana of US and globally sourced parts. Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Urch. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and I have a really, really special guest today. We met on our tour. We did a tour with really very Crunchy and this Way Home. We did five stops back in February. And on the tour I met Lindsay Prel. Lindsay, welcome.

[Lindsay Prel]

Thank you. I'm really excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

[Ginny Urch]

This is a really cool idea of a podcast which is talking about the Thousand Hours Outside journey and how it impacted your life. So you sent in an email. We had talked at the tour, and you just have a really cool story. And I thought, what a wonderful idea. Can you just talk about, like, where was that idea sparked?

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah, absolutely. So I love our story, by the way, of how we met, because I'm in a women's group and I was like, hey, I. I met Jenny. I'm a longtime fan of A Thousand Hours, and I just pitched this idea. And a lot of the women in my women's group were like, what do you mean you just pitched this idea? I'm like, I just asked for her email and I shared this idea and now I'm going on the show. So that was awesome. I loved that. But, yeah. So I really wanted to take time to share not only how A Thousand Hours has completely impacted my life as a mom, and especially a working mom who is so tied to the outdoors, but also, gosh, in the past five years that I've been a mom, I suffered. And for five years I've been trying to figure out, like, what? Why am I suffering? So I went on a huge personal growth journey through counseling, through quite a bit of reading, and like I mentioned, my women's group, and things have started to fall into place for me. And I'm realizing that it isn't just me. I look around, I see a lot of parents who are really struggling, struggling. And they're struggling in ways where it seems like we haven't figured out what we want. What we want, really. And 2 there's so much influence and so many voices that tell us, like, oh, it needs to look this way. Your life has to look this way. Or maybe we compare ourselves to others and we get trapped. So I've kind of found my way out of that, and I just wanted to get on here to, you know, talk to some of the listeners and see if maybe something I say today is a big spark for someone. There's been a few moments where you have spoken on a thousand hours, and I've been driving to the office, and I'm like, yes, that's how I feel. So I hope I can do that for someone today.

[Ginny Urch]

We totally relate on that, Lindsay. And I think a lot of people would. It is really hard to have young children. We're very isolated. They're very demanding. It's way more demanding than you would expect. You're exhausted. It's taking all of your time. It never ends. It's not like you're like, well, I'm gonna have a vacation, you know, in the middle of June. Like, it just. It goes and it goes. And yet there is this other part of you that's like, I. But I want to enjoy this. I. I know in my mind that this is a short season. Like, I have this understanding that everybody says it's going to fly by, so I don't want to struggle.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yes.

[Ginny Urch]

And so can you talk about then? This is so common about how some of the struggle is coming from not knowing what we want and. Or wanting what other people have.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah, absolutely. So I had to take myself off social media for a while. And I'll be honest, I thought I was in good control of my social media use. Right. I spend a lot of time outside. I'm like, I'm not influenced. What happened was I noticed all of a sudden, I would sit down with my husband at night after the kids go to bed. We've got, like, 30 minutes of US time, and I was spending all of that US time pitching all these ideas to him, and they were really contrasting. So it would be like on a Monday, I would say, hey, I think we need to, you know, let's both keep working. Let's pick up land, and let's have a homestead and a farm. Because I'm. I want my children to. When they start a family, I want them to have land we can give them so they're not worried about money. Right. We've had some financial struggles just getting started as a family. And then by Thursday, I'm like, you know, what if we lived in an rv, which is all exciting things, right? But. But it did get to the point.

[Ginny Urch]

You can't really homestead in an rv. So your point is. I know, like, completely opposite. You're like, but if we rv, we can see the country.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah. And he's like, at one point he's, I got a great husband. He's very sweet, really lets me run with a lot of ideas. But at one point he sat me down and he's like, I. I'm not sure what our focus is, and we're spending a lot of time spinning our wheels. And Ginny, it was at that point why I kind of did some personal reflection. I'm like, I don't know what my focus is. Where is this coming from? And I realized that I was looking outward. I was looking at what did successful people have. Right? And there's a myriad of ways that you can be successful. And I think I was trying to pull in all of these little ways of being successful in my life. Right. I wanted to be the best mom. I want to homeschool. We're still on that track. I wanted to have, you know, they need space, right? And. But they need to have community. And I want to be in her grandparents, but I want to be outside. But I still have to work. And it's like, how do I. I was kind of making myself crazy. And I'm sure there's other people who have experienced this before you know it, you have ideas and you're thinking to yourself, where did this even come from? Is this my idea or is this someone else's idea? And I noticed that you pointed that out. So I, I have read. I love your book. Until the streetlights come on. I gave this away. As in our women's group, we had a, a Christmas party. And I gifted that out because I'm like, you have to read this great book. But I did notice, I wrote down on page 83, you put in there, be the odd one. And when I was reading this, I had that aha moment, right? Because you wrote, today's ideas come in like a never ending torrent of rain. How do we differentiate between the good ideas, the bad ones, and the innocuous ones? Where do we find the time amid our daily duties, right, as parents, especially working parents, or stay at home, we're all busy. Where do we find the time to sort through the onslaught of information and advice? And I was stuck there. And it took me a long time to get out.

[Ginny Urch]

I just got super emotional.

[Lindsay Prel]

I'm sorry, I'm not gonna try not to cry.

[Ginny Urch]

Well, here's why. Because I have probably recorded 500 episodes and have read so many other people's book quotes and no one has ever read one of mine. So. Wow. I'm like, I literally have like a tear coming out of I'm gonna cry too.

[Lindsay Prel]

So I'm trying to hold it back. But.

[Ginny Urch]

But you brought up such a good point, Lindsay. Because I think what's tricky is like, when I was growing up, we lived in like a suburb and you don't see other people's lives. Really. Like, you're like, oh, you know, you kind of see things that are the same. And not that that's necessarily always the best thing. I think it's great to see other things that are out there. Like, what is it like on a farm or what's it like on a homestead? But what we are seeing is we're seeing sort of like the culmination of people's everything. It's like, well, yeah, they live in an rv. That's their whole life. That's their whole shtick. They're going to show you all the cool parts of it and they're making, you know, a lifestyle out of that. Or someone that's a homesteader, someone that's a homeschooler, someone that, you know is a. Is a full time professional working mother. Like, they're, you know, this, and this is what I wear. So it's like you're getting the expert and we're just seeing too much.

[Lindsay Prel]

We're seeing way too much. And you know, I'm sure other folks can relate to this. I truthful believe that when we are seeing so much, we're right. It's really difficult for us to pause, especially when you have children in your life, because oftentimes you don't get to pause anyway. And you have that inner voice that's just constantly going. And you don't pause. Cause you're always thinking, right. I'm a constant overthinker of all things. I think I'm a little intense. Maybe others are too. Right. But then there's these moments that you completely miss. You know, you actually also talked about this until the streetlights come on. I have a moment of ours as well. But you talked about how you went outside and you spritzed yourself with the hose. Do you remember that? You were going on and on about like just that pure joy in that moment. Like, I'm just going to go outside. I love this. I'm going to spritz myself with the hose while I think you were watering your garden. We've got. I live in an old neighborhood in a really small town. I mean really small town. And I'm from Fort Lauderdale, right. So born and raised in South Florida. I live here in Georgia in a really small town, totally different lifestyle. But I've got a neighbor across the road, Ms. Ann. Ms. Anne's in her 80s and she lives by herself. And I have a five year old son. Well, our best friend is Ms. Ann. And oftentimes we'd go by and we'd visit, we'd sit for like 10 minutes. But the other day my son was at Wyatt. He said, mom, I want to go visit Ms. Ann. And I was like, but I got like a thousand things to do. You know, I'll watch you go across the road. Well, Jenny, those two sat on the front porch and I was busy bodying, right. I'm juggling a bunch of stuff. I also have a baby. I. I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. I'm thinking on my brain, I'm like, are the bills paid? What am I going to do? This and that. And I had this like just moment where I was like, pause, just appreciate this. And I looked across the driveway and there they are rocking. My 5 year old's talking to an adult by himself. Right. He's built a relationship with someone in our community which is so powerful. We can go on a tangent of that, but it was just one of the, it was like your water hose moment for me. I was like, wow, I could be thinking about that farmhouse right now. I could be worried about, you know, being a working mom and how that's going to impact my kids and xyz. But right now, in this moment, while I'm alive, in these few seconds, I'm looking across the road and I'm seeing my son have a relationship with someone. And that was just transformative for me. I'm like, how many of these moments have I missed, you know, because I've been so busy worrying about how I'm supposed to set my life up the right way.

[Ginny Urch]

So it wouldn't happen if you were.

[Lindsay Prel]

In an rv, it wouldn't.

[Ginny Urch]

Or possibly on a homestead. Because, you know, when you live on a homestead, you're often, you know, an acre or two or more away from the next family. So I think your point is, is where you're at, there are things.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah.

[Ginny Urch]

You know, there are things to appreciate and to enjoy. I would say that when I go out in the garden in the middle of the summer and I'M watering. And then I, you know, I do. I just spray myself. It's so hot out there. I'm like, I never feel more alive than I feel in that simple, simple moment. And the moment with your son and the neighbor, it's like, well, that's super powerful for her too. I mean, it's so good. There's all sorts of research on that about how kids just change our life experience. And then when we become grandparents, it helps with, you know, cognitive things and verbal and all of that. What a beautiful thing. Appreciate the life you've been given. That's, you know, that's sort of like your motto. It's right there in front of you. So can you talk about just the season where you were in this season kind of a while where it was a really big struggle. I relate because I felt like it was for years.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yes.

[Ginny Urch]

You're also struggling in your, in your marriage. What started to help get you out of that?

[Lindsay Prel]

Oh, yeah, I'm happy to go down that story. Um, and I'll be totally authentic and open about it because I, I hope that it can help someone who might be in a similar boat. Um, so, you know, the short version is my husband and I had just bought a brand new house in a big neighborhood and our son was one and my husband's dad had just unexpectedly passed away. That, of course, was tragic. And it started this downward spiral for us. You know, we. Our marriage was not going well. I think we both, we just weren't showing up well for each other. There were things that we did individually that maybe weren't the best for our marriage. And we started spiraling. So we moved. We moved to this little town and we thought, well, it's gonna fix it, right? It did not. It did not. So imagine we're both working, you know, our son's getting older, we're having some troubles, and. And we' really frayed. Right? We. I've listened to a few of your episodes. Specifically, you've had authors talk about marriage, and it's all relatable. We were just on that last thread, Jenny. I mean, there was a point in my marriage where my husband and I were casually figuring out the divorce papers and we're like, yeah, we're going to do this without lawyers and attorneys because we're going to be, what do you want to keep? What do we want to do with this house? And it was so casual, it was scary. And there was this saving grace. For me, this was probably the pinnacle. And then other things helped alongside, but I reached out to this woman in my community, Victoria. And I was like, hey, I'm having a really hard time parenting. I knew her through a mutual friend, but I didn't know her. And I was like, you seem to kind of have it together. Can you help me? She's great mom. Great mom. And she's like, you know what? Here's a video I want you to watch. And it was a couple speaking at their church, right? And we weren't going to church, and. And I said, all right. So I go walk around the neighborhood. I'm listening. I wish I could remember who it was. But just a small church, and they're talking about parenting, and I'm having all these aha moments. Then she extended an invite to me, and she said, would you like to come to my small group, Small group leader? I was like, what on earth is a small group? So I said, sure, I'll go to your small group. The first day I go, I'm going to be honest, I was very intimidated. They were reading scripture. I've never read the Bible. I don't even know what they're talking about. I don't know what these words are. And I'm sitting there. But it was such a welcoming moment for me. And I had tried a lot already. I had done, you know, marriage counseling, individual counseling, which I highly recommend. I got a lot out of that. But there was this moment when I was in my small group, and we went around and did prayer requests, and I was like, you all don't know me really well, but I'm on the verge of divorce. I'm exhausted, and I'm not doing well. And they were like, we're gonna pray for you. And I'm like, what do you what? And, Ginny, it has been over a year now, and that was just a key, because from that, I built community. I found women who understood, but they weren't ready to just kind of let me have the easy way out, right? They're like, hang on, there's. You gotta fight for this. You know, let's. Let's work on this together. They got in the mud with me, helped me with parenting, and then we just grew. It was. It was that little moment for. For us, and it was so awkward. Can I just share this? Because I got really into my women's group, and I was coming home, and I'm like, hey, babe. In scripture, you know, And I'm talking to my husband. We don't go to church. And he's like, what? So I'm like, yeah, in Scripture. And so we. It's awkward. I'm like, should we pray together? It's weird. You know, we've never done that. We weren't that level of intimate. So, yeah, that was a big moment. And there was one other one. If I can share.

[Ginny Urch]

Yeah.

[Lindsay Prel]

Along the same lines. Okay. So I told you we moved to this small town. Well, we live on one end of town. It's very small. There's one coffee shop just. We just got a new restaurant. On the other end of town is a couple. They're the only other people in our town that have a small child. So we kind of started friend dating them. We recording them, and I had invited them over for dinner. This was right around the time I was getting started with my small group. I invited them over for dinner, right? I like to host people. So I have the dinner set up. The house is finally clean, right? We sit down together to play, and we look at them and they're like, how's it going? I said, well, we're getting divorced, right? And I don't know what made me say that, because that's kind of crazy. We weren't really close yet. We'll come to find out. You know, they go to church and. And the husband, Tyler, is the men's minister at a big church here. They sat down with us. Our kids were way past bedtime, and they basically sat with us and they got in the dirt with us again. And Tyler was like, you know, he told my husband Zach, he's like, zach, I got to pull you into men's group. They ended up going on a mission trip to Alaska. It was great. So those two. Those two were really the pinnacle moments for us is having that couple, Tyler and Hannah, that pulled us in, that got in the dirt with us, and then having Victoria. My women's group have just been transformational for my marriage, for my life. I'm like, gonna get teary eyed. So it's been great.

[Ginny Urch]

Well, what's so interesting, Lindsay? And you talk about this like it's interesting to say we were praying. We were on the last thread, and out of that came all of this. And so then sometimes you think, well, if that wouldn't have happened, if we wouldn't have been at the end of our rope, then maybe all of these other things wouldn't have happened. You know, just talking about, like, things that maybe feel like such a big failure, how did it get so bad? But yet that was a catalyst for other things. And I know you and I relate because we both have had VBACS and, you know, sometimes I'm like, oh, you know, I didn't want to have a cesarean section. I was trying to not have one. But out of the fact of having the VBACs, that's how I met my midwife. And she's such a dear friend of mine. It's been, you know, almost 15 years. So, you know, this thought of, you know, that these things that seem like so catastrophic and are really hard can often blossom into something that we don't expect.

[Lindsay Prel]

Well, you like to say you wrote this in my book when I met you. Let the flop be the seed. And I love that, Jenny. I have applied that in so many other areas past my marriage. Right. I lost my job in July. My husband and I worked for the same company. We lost our job within five minutes of each other. My daughter was six months old. Can you imagine? Yeah. And that blossomed into this beautiful seed where I am today with. With where I work.

[Ginny Urch]

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[Lindsay Prel]

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[Ginny Urch]

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[Lindsay Prel]

But yeah, you can apply that. What you're saying with you know, we have these moments in life where it's like, man, I wish that didn't happen. And it's easy to feel that way when you're in it, maybe even when you first come out of it. What I have found in my life is all of those moments where I'm like, either I wish this did happen, you know, and it didn't, or gosh, wouldn't it have been great if it went the other way? Some point later in my life, whether it's three months down the road, years down the road, it like circles back to me and there's this click and I'm like, whoa, imagine if that hadn't happened. I would have actually missed out on all the great that came along with it, you know? So I agree.

[Ginny Urch]

Yeah, the chair, the little boy in the chair talking to the lady across the street. Like all of these types of things. It's interesting that that's what I wrote in your book. I don't think I wrote that in that many people's books, actually. Yeah, that's interesting. I usually write something different. So what A cool thing. Yes. It's like a part of both of our stories for sure.

[Lindsay Prel]

Love that.

[Ginny Urch]

Okay, talk about then. This is something that comes out up a whole lot. Lindsay, both with homeschooling. So I have a book coming out called Homeschooling. You're on the launch team, which is super exciting. Okay. The book is called Homeschooling. You're doing it right just by doing it. And I feel like it's kind of a controversial title. Subtitle. The title is Homeschooling, which I'm super excited about.

[Lindsay Prel]

I can't believe that wasn't taken.

[Ginny Urch]

So I have three books that are all called 1000 Hours Outside and one book that's called Homeschooling. And then these titles are so basic. And then I have until the streetlights come on. But you know, there's a thought of, I think that the, the title is controversial a bit because people are like, well, I know someone who didn't like it or. But I really, in my heart of hearts, like believe wholeheartedly that bringing your kids home and the things that happen naturally out of that, like time for boredom and multi age experiences like with the neighbor across the street, that all of these things that are sort of embedded into a homeschool life almost based off of your lack are things that are really good for kids in the long run, for their future and for their growth. So I believe wholeheartedly, unless you're a negligent abusive parent, that if you choose to homeschool, you're doing it right. I don't think an abusive parent is an actual homeschooler. So I don't think that that would count. But you know, one of the things that people ask a lot about with homeschooling and with getting outside is, well, how do you do it if you're a working parent and you've managed to do it in both situations? So can you just talk through like what that looks like in your day to day life? Yes, I mean, I think it makes life pretty good.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah, I would agree with you. So I was traditionally schooled. I went to public school and so did my husband in South Florida. And to be honest, I remember my childhood experience and it wasn't a negative one. I think there's also this connotation, right. Like a lot of folks think like, oh, homeschooling. Because they must have had a terrible public school experience. No way. I, I had a good time and I know teachers who, who do. They do their best, right?

[Ginny Urch]

They're wonderful, they're Wonderful.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah, yeah. And no one is saying that they're not.

[Ginny Urch]

Right. So I definitely take the stance for homeschooling. Like, I want to talk about the positives. This is not, you know, like a time to bash something else. It's like. But there are a lot of positives that I think people view as negative or they're also not honest about. Well, okay, you're with a teacher, you go through the set curriculum, but you are with kids that are all the same age all day, or you have a small amount of time for recess. And no one really seems to be like dissecting that, but they're going to dissect your homeschool thing. So it just, it's giving the message that, like, you're doing a good job.

[Lindsay Prel]

Absolutely. Yeah. And so for us, we. Our son is a rising kindergartener. And what is a priority for us? One of the big positives for us was that he would be able to be physically active way more. I did my due diligence, right. We're working. And I was like, I don't even know if I can swing this. So I'm like, let me call all the schools. I called our public schools, I toured private schools and I had the same question each time. I was like, I don't care about, you know, the cost. I don't care about really what they're learning. How much time are they getting for recess? How much time? And I found in our public school system, recess, at least here in Georgia and is on a rotation now or like physical activities on a rotation. Right. So they get recess like 30 minutes a day. And then PE is on a rotation throughout the week with like art and math. I don't know if that's at every public school, but it's the ones that I've toured. So I'm like, I'm not really a fan of that. Let's look at the private schools. Well, Ginny, I went to the top private schools here. The top. I mean, I'd probably have to get a second job to afford them. And we toured and I said, okay, this is great. Love everything you're doing. What's the outside time? How much do they go out for recess? Oh, they go out between 30 to 45 minutes. I am a 34 year old adult, Jenny. I cannot sit still for eight hours a day and go outside for 30 minutes. It is crippling to my thought process. Right. I have noticed this in myself. If I'm at my desk all day, I leave my day depressed. I have no momentum or energy. And honestly, I feel kind of blocked because I haven't done anything with my body all day. So my husband and I agreed if we have a hard time with this, I don't know how I'm going to stick a five year old boy in a classroom to sit down the majority of the day. Right. I know they get up and move, but it's not quite the same. He climbs trees, he just started mountain biking and he loves exploring. So for us, I was like, I want the option for him to get outside as much as possible. And on top of that, he loves to learn. I have a really embarrassing story and I'll tell you in a second, but he's very curious and I want to harness that so badly. I know that there's so much research, especially for boys in particular. They don't do as well in school, right. It's not really set up for how they're designed and how their brain operates. They want to like pick around and look and figure things out. And we want that for him. So the embarrassing story is I was working one day and my husband was taking care of our little one in the morning. And all of a sudden I hear my husband screaming at Wyatt. And I'm as our son and I'm like, what's going on? We never scream. I'm like, what's going on? Well, he had taken the kitchen chair, climbed on top of it to get on top of the kitchen counter and open the cabinet where he found our, our torch lighter for the grill and started torch in the bathroom. We have sense controlled that. So, you know, freedom and curiosity, like it's also, you could get you in trouble. But the goal here is we didn't want to diminish that. And when we think about our life, right, we've got to work. That's just the reality of our life right now. Plus, I really enjoy my work and it felt like for us, we had to choose. It was almost like, well, do I quit my job? And like, you know, we struggle to make our ends meet. We can't pay bills, but at least we get to homeschool. Or do we both keep working and you know, we kind of give up on this idea that we at least want to try homeschooling and, and we found this great middle ground. So we have, we actually work with two nannies right now, Maggie and Izzy. We, we adore them. They are a blessing to our life. And Izzy in particular is a homeschool student herself. I believe she's 18 now. She's actually, dual enrolled in high school and college. And when I got my new job, I got laid off in July. I got my new job in August. I was like, I don't have a nanny. So I found her through our community. It's a good friend of mine. It's her niece. Anyhow, well, she was homeschooled, so I've been picking her brain. I'm like, how do you feel about this? You know, she loves it. Very mature girl. Very mature. Incredibly talented artist. I mean, incredibly talented artists. I find little drawings around the house all the time. I save them because I can't believe that she. She did them. But what she does is she already homeschools Wyatt with us. So the other day she went to the thrift store, she got these two empty notebooks and she came back here with them. And now they have nature journals, and they go out in the backyard and they find things that match crayons, and they write down what they are. They made a bookmark for his journal. It has flowers, it's made out of tape, you know, And I asked her, I was like, izzy, we really want to homeschool. You have experience with homeschooling? We've asked the community here in Georgia. There's a lot of homeschoolers, right? Seems, yeah, it's a go for us. But can you help us? Because I can't confirm yet that I can dedicate that level of time. And I don't want to shorthand our son either. And so, yeah, we're having that conversation and she's helping us now, and it's a great thing. So we're very excited.

[Ginny Urch]

I think that's the whole point. It's like, are you doing homeschooling? Right. Your nanny can help. You know, there's all of these just different ways that you can do it. And I just read this book by Maggie Dent. It's called Parental as Anything. And she wrote. Now she's from Australia, but she wrote in 2019, an Australia study found. An Australian study found there's been an 80% drop. 80% in children's capacities to jump, hop, skip, and slide in the last 20 years. Physical passivity does not only impact physical well being, it also impacts our brain's capacity to integrate complex sensory and spatial information. And, you know, so there's. There's all these unintended consequences of all of the sitting. And that kids are supposed to move like that is what aids in their development. And interestingly, you know, for a very long time, five year olds were not doing Anything academic at all, at all. They were doing PlayStations and, you know, maybe they're learning the Alphabet letters, but, you know, so that kindergarten year and even the first grade year, if you look at other places with different educational philosophies, it is play. Yeah, it is play Birth to Seven. And you know, we talk about the amount of time that it takes and that's what we, you know, in our homeschooling book, you'll read about that. You're doing it right just by doing it. But for our kids, we waited for formal education until they were around seven and then they learned to read in, I mean, such a short period of time. And every kid is going to be different. That's the point. But it was not a struggle. And these things that seem like they're so laborious and must take so much time because there's all of these standards in schools and everyone's a reading expert and all the teachers have to take these courses and you think, oh, I'm not going to be qualified that you get this book that says, teach your kid to read in 100 easy lessons. You know, and it takes a couple months of 10 minutes a day. It's not gonna work for every kid. But at the right age and stage, it might be a lot easier than you think. And so this thought of, I guess you're opening up people's eyes, Lindsay, that, hey, it's actually really cool to model to your kids that you like working.

[Lindsay Prel]

Yeah. You know, you had said something, I forgot which episode it was. It was recent. But you were having a conversation with someone about legacy and how you hadn't been a working mom for your older children. Right. And now you have an 8 year old and it's different because you're a working mom and there were some struggles and, and you talked about the importance of legacy and. And I know that in that conversation it was like. Yeah, because that stuff matters. Right. And. And I love Ginny. I gotta tell you, one of the reasons I'm such a fan of yours and from the work you're doing, I know you've got a lot of fans, so just add me to the list of them. But I love that. Especially in until the Street Lights Came on or Come on, you have so much research in here.

[Ginny Urch]

Right.

[Lindsay Prel]

Because it's one thing when you're trying to pitch an idea and you're trying to stand up for something that you believe in, oftentimes it comes across as a. Well, that's just their opinion. Right. You can mark that down. It's just their opinion. But there's research. You talk about. Timbernook, you talked about in this book how 98% of kids, NASA would consider them a genius, right? When they're under. What was it? Under the age of five, I think.

[Ginny Urch]

Five, yeah.

[Lindsay Prel]

As they go, we lose that genius capacity that NASA is looking for. You have to wonder what is happening between these ages, right. It's probably not one thing, but what is causing us to go from having children who are the genius level that Ash, that NASA would hire to not being able to creatively think anymore, you know, having difficulty with that same level of understanding of themselves, of understanding of the world around them, complex problem solving. Right. That goes away. So I don't know, I. I wonder, like, is it correlated to how we have structured childhood now? Because it's not as free. And when I was little, all I wanted to do was play outside. I would go see who had kids, what kids. Bicycles were laying in the neighbor's driveway. Where were the bicycles? That's how I knew where to go. We would play this game, ghost in the graveyard, right? We'd run around. It's like hide and go seek. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to be outside with my friends or I wanted to be outside nature. And I thrived in that way. And as a mom, I see that as diminishing. And I. I see homeschool as an opportunity to one, bring that back, but to two, encourage others. Like, hey, this is how my family worked it out, right? Maybe there's another family with two working parents. This is what works for us. This is the curriculum we might try or not. You want to do unschooling? I don't know. It's up to you. But at the end of the day, you're their parent, right? Like, you can make decisions that you feel are best for your child and you can adjust along the way. It's not set in stone. Kind of like you're. You're pointing to, right? There's multiple ways that you can do this. That if you do feel like you're messing up a little bit, well, just make that micro adjustment. Shift your sail and move in a different direction. How are you going to mess up kindergarten? Come on.

[Ginny Urch]

Well, yeah, especially since kindergarten is optional. I mean, I don't know how it is everywhere, but, like, in Michigan, you don't have to start school until age six. That's the law. And I think it used to be older, you know, so there was a time in life where. And in the Waldorf schools, like they don't do any of that formal stuff until they're around seven, when the adult teeth come in. And then they introduce letters in this story form and it's so beautiful. But like what you said about adjusting along the way, this would be a point that would be in the book homeschooling. You're doing it right just by doing it. Because that is something that's really impactful, which is how do you craft a life? How do you adjust along the way when things go wrong? And so what kids get is they get that front row seat to modeling how to build the life that you want. Because no one has a life that goes right exactly like how they want it to. Everyone has to micro adjust. And so one of the things that happens like when you're in a school setting, because I was a public school teacher, you, the kids are not privy to that behind the scenes situation. You just come in and you direct what's going on and you're probably really good at it and you're good at managing the classroom. But a child does not see how is this all set up and what's the backstory here and why are we doing this? But at home, you might even think that that's wrong. You're like, well, we tried this, we tried unschooling, didn't like it. I need to be more structured. We did a ton of structure, we did online school. Kids hated it. We're going to adjust. And I think in our society, it's like we feel like, oh, well, we did something wrong and oh, what a failure, what a flop. But it's not that because you're modeling to your kids how to craft a life and that you like to work. And in some families, the mom will work, the dad will work. You know, both work. Neither work. No, you gotta trust fund whatever the situation is. But John Taylor Gatto says there are as many ways to become educated as there are fingerprints. Meaning that your unique situation works and that you're doing it right.

[Lindsay Prel]

Absolutely.

[Ginny Urch]

And so you're like, you're opening people's eyes. Oh, we both work. I mean, can we really do it? And yeah, there's just different workarounds. And you can do your school in the afternoons or that or the weekends. But I think what you did, Lindsay, by asking, what's the recess time? How much time are they going to get outside? I don't think that that many people are doing that. I didn't really know the school district I grew up in. It's 20 minutes starting in pre K, age 4 now they try, they try and say, well, there's lunch, there's a, there's a 1:20 minute recess in the afternoo and I went to the school board meeting. I showed up with this like stack of 30 books or something. I was like, there's a lot of research to show that 20 minutes is not enough. You get three minutes. You have to wait through this whole like hours of this meeting of like budget and anyway, so as you get three minutes at the end they put, there's a timer going, oh my gosh. And they said, well also there's lunch in recess. It's 45 minutes. It's a combined thing. Lunch and resets, 45 minutes. And so one of the parents was like, well how much of that are the kids actually playing? Because they have to walk to the lunchroom, they maybe have to go to the bathroom, they have to wait in line, they have to sit down, they have to eat, they have to get on their snow pants or in Michigan, you know, so like different from Florida. Like there's this process, you know, they got, they got to get outside. And they were like, well how much of that 45 minute lunch recess is the kid actually playing? They were like, we don't know. You know, they don't know. So they really only had one 20 minute dedicated recession in the afternoon. And I think it's really incredible that you went and asked.

[Lindsay Prel]

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[Ginny Urch]

So winter here is like, georgia, same thing. Georgia, Florida. Snow pants are like, I don't even know what that is. What are you talking about?

[Lindsay Prel]

But it's rainy. It's raining gray. And I have that book, no bad weather. And I'm like, I know I should get out there in the rain. But when it's cold and rainy, I'm like, I don't want to go. I have. I notice in my son, the days that we're in, right? It doesn't even have to be in our house. If we're in our house, someone else's house, in a store, in our favorite local coffee shop if we're in the majority of the day, Jenny, he's. He's frustrated and he acts differently, right? Because we're pretty consistent with everything else. We're consistent with what we eat, very consistent with bedtime. Everything else is kind of structured. But how we spend the day changes. And on the days where he gets outside, literally for more than an hour, he comes in, he's beaming. I tuck him in at bed at night. He always tells me, he's like, mom, you made my whole day. I love you. I love life. Like, just happy. God, like, full of gratitude on the days that we're outside. One time, my dad came to visit and we didn't know what to do with him because I told you, we live in a small town, right? I'm. Sometimes I get bored. I'm like, I'm. Still, as an adult, I'm trying to figure out what to do with boredom. He's way better at it than I am, my son. So we got a bucket, we filled it with sand, and we hid quarters in there. I'm not exaggerating by any means. My son was in the backyard sitting on a log for over four hours, digging in the sand, looking for the quarters. And when he found them all, we put them all back. He had a blast, Ginny. All he had to do was sit there and dig quarters for sand. Right? And maybe someone might argue like, well, what is he gonna learn from that? I don't know. I would argue. Find out how to handle his boredom. Yeah. Better than me, right? He asked all about, what do you do with quarters? How much is this? If I add this up, what do I buy with that? Right? So there's little lessons in life, like, along the way.

[Ginny Urch]

And just to sit there with your own thoughts, right? Like to be okay. To just. Just, you know, to be. Just to be.

[Lindsay Prel]

How many people struggle with that?

[Ginny Urch]

So talk to us then about getting outside the practicalities. You've got a little one. Yeah. And then you've got, you know, you've got a boy that's running around. Lots of energy. Talk to the parent who's like, oh, that seems like it might be too hard.

[Lindsay Prel]

Oh, I've been there. I've actually especially been there recently because my daughter's had some trouble sleeping. So it's always hard until you're out.

[Ginny Urch]

Oh, that's it.

[Lindsay Prel]

That is always hard. Yeah. Until you're there.

[Ginny Urch]

And that's so true. And that is the key to the whole thing.

[Lindsay Prel]

It's like the door, right? The door in your house. When you're on the inside of the door thinking about getting out there, you're like, oh, my gosh. Well, what time is nap time? What have I got to pack? Have they had their lunch? How much water do I bring? Are they going to need a blanket? What about a. You know, your brain's like, right, okay, fine. Then whatever you choose to do in that moment, at some point you go on the other side of the door. Maybe it's even when you get your kids in the car, right? If that's something you're doing. And then it's fine. You're not thinking about it anymore. Now you're just doing it. And when you're at the point where you're just doing it, it doesn't matter. You're experiencing the moment anyway. And what I have found is getting outside with small kids. It's not hard to actually be outside with them. It's the overthinking I do as a parent that causes me all this stress and anxiety and worry. That's what deflates my balloon, so to speak. Actually being out with them is awesome. I have a blast with them outside. We have a little waterfall here. It's not even really a hike, Ginny. It's more like you walk like 10 steps and you're at this trickle of a Waterfall, right? I love it when we go there. Sometimes I don't bring a change of clothes. Right. If they get wet, well, I'll just. They're gonna ride home and I'll change them. Like, I don't have to have the next 10 steps figured out to go outside and have fun with my kids. We're just gonna adapt along the way. And it is. Oh, my gosh, it is so freeing as a parent to be able to adopt that mindset. They love the outdoors. I love the outdoors. It benefits all of us. We all sleep better, by the way. And just letting go, like this is gonna go how it's gonna go if worst case scenario, I forget snacks. Well, you know what? My kids are probably gonna learn a little bit of a lesson on patience. Right. Or maybe a lesson on preparing for certain things or how to adapt. Right. I got a model. Like, what does real life actually look like? You're not always going to be prepared for the big adventures in your life. Sometimes you just got to go for them and figure it out.

[Ginny Urch]

I just talked to this woman who wrote a book called the Fat Burn Fix, and she's basically like, we shouldn't be snacking. And I was like, oh, goodness. So if you forget your snacks and you will be in line with Dr. K. Channian. But I tell you what, I think that what you brought up is so important. I'm speaking at a MomCo, which used to be mops on Sunday, just a couple days in our area. And I was just thinking yesterday, back to when our kids were really little and, like, what advice I would have. And I used to pack up the night before, so I would pack whatever we would need for the day, like after the kids went to bed. Because when you wake up in the morning and, like, you're on, it's go time. Like, they need you. So it's really hard, I think, to pack those things in that moment. So I would try and pack up the night before if I could, and then I would keep a couple extra boxes of shelf stable type things in the car. Crackers or, you know, water. We get like a big thing of water and keep it in the car, like a gallon. I mean, in Georgia, it probably have to be insulated, but, you know, something like that. I just keep it in the car. You've got extra. You've got extra for other people. And then I'm the same as you. It's like as soon as we actually got there and I opened the door, wherever we're going, and stepped out, then it's like the whole, the whole weight of it falls off and you're there and you get to be in the moment. And Alistair Humphries calls it the doorstep mile. The hardest mile is across the doorstep. It's, it's across that threshold. It's always hard until you're out and then it changes.

[Lindsay Prel]

And can I also share when you are out, have you noticed, like, it is so much easier to be present with your family?

[Ginny Urch]

Yes. Well, there's so much you're not looking at, like the dust bunnies and the, I should clean out the fridge. All the like, should, should, should, should, should. You don't, you don't have it with you, so you don't do it. And then you just get to be. And you get the benefits of that too. Which we need. We need the benefits too. You guys do some park hopping?

[Lindsay Prel]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we do park hopping. We have just started going back to our favorite mountain bike park. Jenny, I'm thrilled. This day has been on my mind since I was pregnant with my son. I met my husband mountain biking in Florida of all places. There's the man made mountain bike park. It was great. So since we've met, we have. Mountain biking has been a thread in my life for adventure. It's taken me to cool places. I've gone to Whistler, gone downhilling, traveled out to Arizona, rode all around here in like North Carolina, by the way, stunning. So that's our heart, right? And when we became parents, it kind of went out the window. I wasn't able to do it anymore. So when our son was very little and now that we have a daughter, we bring them park hopping. We meet up with friends. Oftentimes we just meet friends at the park. Like we meet strangers and we build some community with them. But now my son just learned how to ride his bike and I took him to the trails. He not only is he really good, I'll say that, but he loves it every day. He's like, mom, can we go mountain biking? And my dad's in town. My dad's going to take a mountain biking because I started mountain biking as a child with my dad. So there's this beautiful, you know, generational outdoor hobby that we share and it's. Oh my gosh, it's amazing to see him. He tried a downhill trail the other day, totally fell off the bike, got right back up, dusted himself off. He's like, it's fine, let's keep going. So I'm, there is this beacon of light for me. I See it, And I'm like, oh, my gosh, the adventures that are coming our way, right? And for my daughter, you know, I'll pack her in the little. We've got one of those carrier backpack hiking bags for her. I pack her up in that. You know, maybe we'll walk her around, and my husband will mountain bike with our son, and then we'll trade. Yeah. So it works out. But, yeah, we love just getting to the park. And even if we can't go do something that big, right? If it's the end of the day and we're kind of fried, honestly, you know what I love to do? I like to make dinner, and I like to bring it outside and sit on the grass or at our picnic table on the deck. That's it. How easy is that?

[Ginny Urch]

How easy is that? But it really does bring about big returns. Small changes can have these big returns. So you're at this spot within the last couple years. I mean, it's not been long. Brink of divorce about to fray, and you have stopped looking for a life that you don't have. You have found contentment. What would you say are sort of the biggest keys there to make that shift? Because I would imagine a lot of people listening might be there. They might be like, oh, I'm fraying.

[Lindsay Prel]

I'm so glad you asked that, because this is so close to my heart. You know, for me, I was fraying, and I realized that I felt asleep. And what I mean by that is I am someone who has always seen the magic in life, the magic in nature, right? That's where I thrive. And I got to this point in my life where I wasn't seeing it anymore, and I was just operating. I think one of the. A couple of the big keys for this is one. It was really difficult for me to accept and admit to myself that I needed to realize that, right? I had to tell myself, like, hey, number one, you're not good anymore. Right? Like, you people know me as this energetic, outgoing person. Yeah, that's a big part of me. But there was this other part that came to the surface that was very dark, very upset, just really honestly depressed. And I ignored it for a long time. And it bubbled to the point where I was like, I can't ignore this anymore, and I have to face it. So first of all, you have got to face it. If there's. If there's something in your heart, this intuitive voice that we all have, this subconscious voice, right? It talks to us if you hear it. And it's Telling you, like, something's not right here. You got to listen to that, number one. Number two, this was also equally hard, is trying to figure out what to do with that, right? And that's where I got stuck. I was like, well, in truth, I'm like, I don't like how my life looks. I'm not. I don't love my life right now, and I'm not liking life. That's a really scary place to be, right? It. It eats at you. And I thought that the answer was making all these big changes, which I did that for a while. For five years. We moved our house four times in five years. I mean, that's crazy. I was searching externally, everywhere. Nothing fit. I had, you know, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy friendships. Moving my house, like, it all fell apart. I could never find it. And when I switched the script here and I started to look at it can't be this complicated. There's no way that I'm gonna find the farmhouse in the great outdoors with the community and make enough money that, like, I basically don't have to work. And that's not gonna happen, right? So stop chasing it. So I started to think, well, how can I make my life feel better without doing anything? And I got into this idea about mindset. And I actually have been reading some books. There's a book on my nightstand right now. It's Mindset by Carol Dweck that my director Carlos actually mentioned I should read. It's great. But anyway, it's all about mindset, and I worked really hard at that. And for anyone listening, that is not a one day thing. I wouldn't even say that's like a one time thing, Right? You constantly have to practice shifting mindset, and to do that, you need to be able to hear yourself and catch yourself, right? Like, what am I thinking? And then stop that thought. Hold on. I'm thinking, like, life sucks right now, man. Why? That's not a helpful thought. Why am I thinking about it? I want to be curious. I want to explore. So being able to shift the mindset and just start to see the beauty in the life that I have, Ginny, that's been transformational for me because I really thought, you know, I live in a house that was built in the 70s. It needs so much work. I'm not even kidding. It's cute. But I was like, oh, this house, you know, I should buy a new house, or we don't live in the beautiful mountains that I love. We should move there. And I forgot to notice. I've got a grandma, my son's grandma's 10 minutes up the road. I have a community of people genuinely in my little town here. We have this, this strong, tight knit, close, small community that I've never been a part of, something like that. And they love my children the way I do. I've got miss Ann across the road. You know, I've. I've got things here that are good. So maybe it doesn't look the way I thought it should, but now that I'm appreciating exactly how it is, right, I could probably use to lose a little baby weight, whatever, but I'm fine. Like, I'm just gonna appreciate my body for what it did. My house needs to be painted. But you know what? It's still cute. I'm gonna appreciate it. When I was able to flip this, it helped me. And the biggest one I want to call out, I know I'm kind of rambling, so thank you. But so important to my heart. The biggest one was being a working mom. I want to talk about that for a minute. I. When I got my job in August, this is the best job I've ever gotten. And I truthfully feel God put this in my lap because I didn't even look for it. I reached out to someone I knew. I said, can you help me with my resume through the network? Through this opportunity came. It's a great opportunity. I'm learning so much. I work with fantastic people, very flexible, wonderful. I started driving to the office. I had been remote for five years, since the day I became a mom through Covid. I always worked remote. And now I'm going to an office and I'm crying every single day. On the way there, on the way back, I'm like, I don't want to do this. I couldn't see. I was going through this huge change, Jenny. And I couldn't see how wonderful what the gift that was given to me. I couldn't even see it. I would come home. I was ranting to my parents, ranting, I don't want to do this. I want to be home. Xyz So I struggled for months, for months. And there was just this moment where I was like, it is okay for me to accept that this is a great thing, right? Maybe I thought I was always going to be a stay at home mom. And maybe there's even a small part of me that just kind of needs to grieve that idea for a little bit. But at the same time, I can appreciate how beautiful it is what I have. And when I started making that mindset shift, I showed up differently. I showed up as a better teammate. I showed up as a better wife. I showed up as a better mom. And I really started to enjoy my work. I started to enjoy being a working mom. I saw, like, how can I blend work and homeschool and parenthood together? What does that look like as one life? I don't want to separate them anymore. It has been fantastic. I've really dived into this over the past, like, four or five months, and it has changed not only how I see being a working mom, it has changed how I look at life in general and how I see the world around me. And I find myself appreciating so much more. And honestly, that is just this. That is the joy in life. I'm incredibly more joyful now, and it didn't take anything except for me to shift. My mindset didn't cost me anything. I didn't have to do anything drastic. I just had to shift from not appreciating to looking around and appreciating what is. Even if I don't have everything I want.

[Ginny Urch]

How to appreciate the life you've been given. That's really powerful. I'd read this book by a man named Andrew Clavin, and it was like his memoir, and he was talking in there about how, like, we had. We were provided for. It's different if you're not provided for, right? But he's like, you know, growing up, it's like, we're provided for and like, our home should have been this happy, joyful place, and it wasn't. It was, like, such a reminder to me, like, it can be really sad. Like, it can go a different way, even though your needs are met and maybe people are healthy or that type of thing. And yet, because you don't appreciate it or you don't look at it from that perspective, it just feels like it's not enough. And so you. You know, you spend the whole child. That's, like, basically what he taught. That was like, his culminating thoughts about his childhood was like, it. It should have been good. There was no reason for it not to be, and yet it wasn't. So the key here is appreciate the life you've been given. And also, what's so cool then, Lindsay, is when you do that, then it ripples out and affects other people. Like, you talked about the people in your community, and they get the benefits of that as well. Give a little bit of advice to a mom who, like, may I Should I try and do 1000 hours outside?

[Lindsay Prel]

For anyone who's listening, I like to just say, you know, Jeanne, when I got on this. When I got on the podcast with you today, again, thank you for having me. I told all my friends, I'm like, I'm just this average mom, right? And I am like, I'm not a published author. I don't have a medical degree in childhood development.

[Ginny Urch]

And I'm also just an average mom, too.

[Lindsay Prel]

But I love that. And there's moms, even dads, right? There are caretakers listening to your podcast who are on the verge, I would say, or maybe they just like to listen. They're like, I'm never gonna do this 1000 hours thing. As an average mom who has her hands overflowing with responsibility, it has been the key to accessing joy as a parent. It has been the key. There's so much that you can experience with joy as parenting, but being able to do that 1,000 hours outside and track it and get excited and your kids get motivated. Now it's this challenge, and you're telling everyone about it, and then they're doing it. I mean, just alone, right? In that one example, you're building community. You're getting fresh air. You're getting the sunshine in your eyes that you probably didn't even know you needed. You're sleeping better. Your kids are like, wow, look how cool my mom and dad are. They're outside exploring the forest with me, or we're at the beach, right? Prioritize it. I would encourage anyone in any capacity of your life, even if you're not a parent, if there is any part of you that feels, like, mundane or blah, or if you're on the verge of depression. For me, the best medicine has been following your challenge and forcing myself to get outside. Because after the first one or two times, number one, I got easy. Then it became addictive, and that is the best addiction to have. It's the best addiction.

[Ginny Urch]

Lindsay, what an honor to meet you. Okay, this is a cool thing. So I think this is because I'm old. I say tour, but my kids say tour. Just like how you did. Like, we met on tour, but I would say we met on tour, but you were like, jordy, you say it like how my kids do, because you're younger. What an amazing opportunity that we met on tour to meet you, and we got these pictures together, and I think it's so incredible that you reached out. I am the same as you. I'm like, just like some average mom. And I think you find what works for you and you share it. And you share it. Share it when your kids are young, like your kids are 5 and 1. Share now. Share what you're learning now because it helps other people. You have an Instagram called Ordinary on purpose. I'll make sure I put a link on there, which is such a beautiful name. Just to remind people to appreciate the life that they've been given. Lindsay. We always end our show with the same question. What's a favorite memory from your childhood? That was outside.

[Lindsay Prel]

I have been so looking forward to this question. Question. Oh, okay. So my favorite childhood memory, outside. I grew up in Florida, as I mentioned a few times. Very flat, very hot. And my mom cash advanced her credit card. One time we had no money, and my mom's. And she's like, we're going white water rafting. So my mom took me to South Carolina when I was like 13 or 14. We went on the Chattooga river, and I got to go whitewater rafting. Ginny. It was the most beautiful experience of my childhood. And I have a lot of outdoor experiences with my dad, my mom. But I got in that cold water and I looked up at the trees and I heard the rapids, and I just felt completely connected to myself, to nature, to the world around me.

[Ginny Urch]

And.

[Lindsay Prel]

And it really was a key driver and who I am today. I still raft. I moved way closer to that river now. I've brought my children there. It's. It's really just one of those core memories was being able to go white water rafting.

[Ginny Urch]

I love that too. It's actually one of my favorite things. We've done it as a family, and it makes me think about Lindsay, like, you know, when your kids are little, you're dragging them, you know, like, you're having to carry everything. You got the picnic blanket, you're packing up the food, you've got the diaper bag. And it does change fairly quickly where all of a sudden they're able to adventure in these different ways. Like you said, your son's already starting to mountain bike. And I think one of the coolest things about nature is that it can. It can scaffold like, you know, it can. There's things that you can look forward to down the road, and then as you get older, it can scaffold back. You know, maybe you used to do those things, and now you're doing simple things, simpler things, and there's sort of that beautiful full circle to it. So it's like you in, like, less than a decade. You're going to be doing that with your own kids. It's so exciting. Yeah. That nature gives you something to look forward to and then it helps you to remember your memories. I love whitewater rafting too. Maybe someday we'll go whitewater.

[Lindsay Prel]

I would love to go with you here. Want to go?

[Ginny Urch]

Yeah. So we'll put together like a field trip. A 1000 hours outside whitewater rafting field trip. Lindsay, this has been such an honor. Thanks so much for offering to come on. Thank you for what you've shared with us and thank you for being bold to come on and share your story so that other people can find hope in what you have learned.

[Lindsay Prel]

Thank you. I have tears in my eyes. Thanks, Jenny. I really appreciate it. You're doing great work and thanks for starting a thousand hours. You've transformed our family, so I appreciate you. Do you want to learn the Bible? In a way that's encouraging, surprising, and even entertaining? Check out the Bible Stories podcast. Each week, Bible Stories brings you classic, you know, and hidden gems that you might have missed. Have you ever heard about the time that King David fought a giant and he lost? Or when Paul preached so long a guy fell asleep he tumbled out a window and had to be brought back to life? Did you know that God himself buried Moses and that Michael the Archangel and the devil fought over Moses body? Yeah, it gets wild. So tune in for storytelling that's biblical, insightful, and a lot of fun. Subscribe today to Bible Stories with Matt Mullins and Todd Haymans, available wherever you get your podcasts.