Huron Expositor, 2007-06-13, Page 11The Huron Expositor • June 13, 2007 Page 11
News
Family fun focus of 20th anniversary of Huron
County Child Abuse Prevention Committee
Susan H u n d e r t m a r k
Living on a 100 -acre farm near
Auburn with a carpentry and gar-
dening business and where the kids
are homeschooled has allowed the
Richardson -Hildebrand family to
put fun into their lives.
Following the theme of families
investing in fun together for the
Huron County Child Abuse
Prevention Committee's 20th
anniversary celebration last week,
Gwen Richardson and her children
Grace, 12 and Stephen, 11, talked
about how they have fun together.
"The kids are our main reason for
being," said Gwen, adding that
other basic values they live by
include a choice of time over con-
sumerism, equality between gen-
ders and environmental sustainabil-
ity.
"We took a voluntary dive to the
poverty line and we're living there
happily," she said about her choice
to become a stay-at-home parent
who does homeschooling when her
kids were born.
Living with the philosophy that
"fun is free," the family has made
good use of the woods on the proper-
ty, creating trails, building swings
in the trees, camping out and just
enjoying the outdoors.
"The kids have always been field
naturalists - they spend most of the
spring catching tadpoles and bring-
ing home pails of water," said Gwen.
The house is also "play -oriented"
with a playroom that has ropes,
rings and swings hanging from the
ceiling.
"We have a three B rule - no
Barbies, no bullets, no batteries.
And, we believe a child should
manipulate the toy, not the toy
manipulating the child," said Gwen.
"Most of their early childhood has
been spent swinging and they're
still swinging," she said.
Showing photos of the family
climbing large round haybales,
playing in a recycled swimming pool
and sandbox, family members
talked about how they make their
own fun.
"Dad built me a barrel and it was
fun to roll on it or inside it," said
Stephen.
"The barrel was a big hit for many
years - we taught a lot of people
how to barrel roll," said Gwen.
She added the family is a "firm
believer in the tickle trunk."
"We've spent endless hours play-
ing dress -up. We went through a
strong Viking phase," she said, dis-
playing a slide of the whole family
dressed up with horned helmets.
Gwen said she and her husband
Ray Hildebrand also share a belief
that work is fun, adding that kids
develop self-esteem from the mas-
tery of skills and the knowledge
that adults need their help.
"I'll always remember when I was
quite sick with a bout of the flu,
Grace took care of Stephen that day.
He had Cheerios for breakfast,
lunch and supper but that was okay
and she felt so good helping out,"
she said.
The family collects its supply of
firewood for the winter every
Labour Day and the kids have been
helping in the kitchen since they
were very young.
."You need to let kids help in the
kitchen when they're not helpful so
they'll be helpful later on," she said.
Gwen said Stephen used to follow
his dad around the lawn while he
was cutting the
grass with an old
lawnmower
which had its
motor and blades
removed.
"I don't think
he ever figured
out his lawn-
mower wasn't
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cutting but he was so happy to
help," she said.
Gwen said she and Ray have put
a lot of effort into encouraging disci-
pline in their kids.
"We're big believers in front end
loading. If you put lots of time into
kids at an early age, you get that
time back later. It really does pay
off immensely," she said. •
Marie Tyler,
executive direc-
tor of the Huron
County Child
Prevention
Committee, said
the group want-
ed to emphasize
investing in fun
as the anniver-
sary's theme
because after 20
years of offering
services through-
out the county,
they wanted to
celebrate the
remarkable fami-
lies they'd met.
"We just want-
ed to walk our
talk about
strengthening
families to nur-
ture their chil-
dren. Why not let
families tell their
stories as they
follow their
dreams and val-
ues," she said.
Families First -
Invest in Fun Together offered a
number of family -related work-
shops, a panel discussion on manag-
ing stress due to separation and
divorce and a family picnic at the
Vanastra Community Christian
Reformed Church.
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