Today’s episode is all me. This one really is “The Greta Eskridge Podcast”! I like to have these episodes every month or so, where I get to catch up with you and share whatever is on my heart and mind at the time. Today I’m sharing thoughts on why it is so imperative for us to help our kids not just opt out of social media, gaming, and hours spent on a screen, but to opt into real life! That means opting into real life experiences and real life relationships and real life connections with the world and the people who live here. I share some sobering idea, but also encouragement that this isn’t as difficult as we might think. 

I’m also sharing something exciting for you all, my podcast community! For the month of July and August I am inviting you to join me in an online cook club, reading my book Adventuring Together. If you have already read the book, you can join, or if you’re picking it up for the first time, you can join too. We’ll spend the month of July reading the book and then you can join me for a live book club meeting where we’ll chat and you guys can ask questions and it will be a great time! I’ll also be sharing one of my most favorite talks, The Connecting Power of Adventure” online for the first time. And my podcast listeners will have the opportunity to see that too. To take advantage of these opportunities I’m inviting you to join me on Substack. If you aren’t a Substack reader yet, its simply an online platform where writers like me can share our work and create a community with our readers. You can visit my website or my Instagram feed for all the details. I know we’re going to have a lot of fun, and be motivated and inspired to cultivate lasting connection with our kids and this beautiful world we live in! 

Important links from today’s episode here: 

My favorite herbal blend of tea for sun tea here (I also like to add 2 or 3 bags of decaf black tea to the brew to make it a little stronger)  

Find my website and all the book club info here 

Find my book, Adventuring Together, here 

For more adventurous, connecting ideas, see my children’s book here 

Follow me on Instagram here 

See Erin Loechner’s book, The Opt Out Family, here 

Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: 

*”In order to help our kids opt out of social media, video games, endless screen time, and even pornography use, we have to offer them something better!” Greta Eskridge 

*”The algorithms are designed to make us want to stay on the screen, to scroll, and to watch for hours. So, we have to offer our kids something better!” Greta Eskridge 

* If our only goal is to check a lot of adventures or activities off the list with our kids, but we’re not using those things to build, and cultivate connection with them, then we’re all missing out.” Greta Eskridge 

*”Adventure is the vehicle, but connection is the goal.” Greta Eskridge 

*” If we consistently offer our kids the opportunity to experience the real world with the people they love to be with, they’ll want to choose that over the false connection, and even the false experiences offered through technology.” Greta Eskridge 

*”If people can just have an amazing virtual experience, why would they want to go through the effort, expense and bother of having a real one? Why would they want to have real life friendships, or real life relationships when they can have that with an image on a screen? This is the danger of satisfying your desires in a made up world, where life is easy and you expend no physical or emotional energy.” Greta Eskridge 

*”It is critical we create an appetite for real adventure and real experiences and real connection with the world and with it’s people in our kids! They need to experience struggle and hard work and being emotionally connected to others. There is so much at stake here.” Greta Eskridge 

*”It imperative that I not only pursue real life connection with my kids, but also teach them how to recognize it and to pursue it themselves.” Greta Eskridge 

*“This is more than just a list of things to do with your kids this summer. This is an invitation to you to begin creating connection and relationship with your kids that will stand the test of time.” Greta Eskridge