Parenting and the Power of the Ordinary

In the early 90s, scientists ran an experiment called Biosphere 2 in Arizona. They created a self-contained world—plants, animals, everything—sealed off from the outside. The trees grew fast, tall, and lush. But then they started falling over.

Why?

No wind.

It turns out, trees need the stress of wind to grow strong roots and tough wood. Without resistance, they shoot up weak and collapse under their own weight.

Kids aren’t that different.

We want to protect them, shelter them, give them “the best.” But sometimes what they need most is the ordinary—the stress of daily life, chores, waiting their turn, even boredom.

It’s in those small gusts of wind that resilience is built.

My kids used to roll their eyes when I told them to do the dishes or get a little nervous going into the gas station market by themselves. But I knew those moments—unremarkable, everyday, even annoying—that are giving them roots. Ordinary life is training.

And if we let them skip it all, we risk raising kids who look great on the outside but topple the first time the wind blows.

So yes, let them splash in muddy puddles, argue over who takes out the trash, and survive long family road trips with questionable gas-station snacks. That’s their wind. That’s their strength.

Puddle Jumpers (Spring 2026) is full of lessons like this—messy, ordinary moments that turn into extraordinary growth.

Brandon