After 48 meetups, exploring 10 locations, over 13 months, meeting countless children and their moms, dads, grandparents, and nannies the time has come for ROOTS Forest Friends to close its doors…so another can open. More on that later! I am so grateful. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you who made this dream a reality for me over the last year and change.
Chapter One: The Seed
Haley, who started this facebook page and hosted a few meetups - thank you for planting the seed for me. I’ll never forget where that seed started to spread its roots. It was a beautiful November morning and I was out on a hike with my kids having the best time ever, as always. I remember thinking - how fun would it be to be here exploring with other like-minded mamas? Moms who enjoy being out in nature with their kids, no matter the weather, just like me, just like us?
I posted a poll to my instagram stories asking if people would come if I started a free forest school group. Of course my best friends Libby and Hannah said they would but there weren't many other takers. I didn’t care and willfully set my apprehension aside.
Chapter Two: Where Though?
I spent the next two months mapping out every somewhat-open space in the woods near southern AACo that I could host weekly meetups at. I settled on South River Farms Park in Mayo. Our first Forest Friends Meetup was on Jan 4, 2023!
Cheyenne, thank you for trudging along with me as I spewed all of my anxious thoughts. For coming to check out the spot with me beforehand to make sure it would work. Thank you for reading to the group when I was too nervous, and thank you for showing up every week to support my dream of launching this group.
After a few short weeks at what we thought was our forever spot, the ticks made it loud and clear to us it was their leafy hill to hangout on, not ours.
Maria, thank you. For so graciously offering the woods behind your house to us to gather while I searched for a new location. I was feeling quite discouraged - I had just hyped up the group and now we were without a base camp…again.
Chapter Three: Exploring and Surrender
It was a sunny day in early February. My husband, kids, and I were out hiking new woods to hopefully find a spot for the group. We had been exploring for hours and taken a wrong turn somewhere. The woods were so stunning. The sunlight shone on moss paths, the most perfect shade of green.
The water was flowing and rocks were in abundance. There were roots everywhere creating beautiful, intricate webs and ladders to climb. It felt like art immersion, but the real deal. We climbed a huge hill at one point that we couldn’t see the top of and to our surprise when we got to the peak there was the most glorious open space right in front of us. Wooden benches facing a fire pit and picnic table, a long narrow path that led to a huge tree on the ground for climbing and hiding. Open woods for exploring, tree stumps pretending. Teepee stick forts and so much more. THIS MUST BE THE PLACE! I was giddy and so excited to show this magical to you all.
We came back to this spot 14 times over 4 months. We read, we climbed, we snacked, we balanced, we dug, we hiked. We made life-long friendships, talked about all things home birth, tandem nursing, pregnancy, natural medicine, parenting and life in general. We were nearing the end of Spring and our woods were filling in. Our once barren path was now a luscious green filled with leaves, vines, thorns and flowers. You could hardly see through it to our climbing tree. The bugs were in full force and a mystery one left red bumps behind most kids’ ears each week. I took this as another sign it was time for us to move on and give our beloved woods a break for the summer. Let her rest in all of her glory and green.
Chapter Four: Sweet Summertime With a Dose of Trauma
From May to October we partied hard at Mayo Beach Park. When it was warm enough we swam, when it got a little chillier we played in the woods at the top of the hill or in the sand along the shoreline. There were fruit trees to pick, a tree to climb, beaches to run. It was quite lovely. How lucky are we to live along the Bay?
In the middle of this season, my family and I experienced one of the worst things we could have imagined - full blown mold. Throughout our entire home. Mold poisoning in every family member. We wound up being displaced from our home for months and lost about 90% of our possessions. I found out the results of our test on a beautiful Friday meetup standing alongside Jordan. I couldn’t even tell her of the news I had just received because I would have had a full blown panic attack.
The group was on pause from the end of June until I was able to return again in September. We sprinkled a few other fun meetups in there - my favorite getaway, Annmarie Gardens in Solomons...a fall festival at Councell Farms on the Eastern shore. I continued to meet new people alongside others who showed up every week. I grew more passionate about sharing my love for outdoor time and exploring in nature with children. What a wonderful gift we were giving them.
Chapter Five: The Last Hurrah
In late fall I moved our basecamp over to Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park in Annapolis. What a seriously great spot to explore. The options were truly endless and perfect for all ages. We foraged, we hiked, we saw bones and burrows. Deer herds and squirrels, hawks and herons. We built forts, we explored trails and tracks. We skated on ponds covered in ice and climbed snow covered trees. We splashed in puddles and waded with rain boots on the shoreline. We grabbed lunch sometimes…sometimes coffee. We always snacked. We hosted Friendsgiving in the Forest! We dressed up and went to a ballet and out to lunch.
We shared intimate thoughts and feelings and ideas. We exchanged numbers and continued to grow friendships outside of the meetups. We shared dreams of what was to come. How could we take this casual weekly meetup and grow its roots even deeper, spread them even farther? How could we foster a community with a commitment to showing up weekly and creating connection amongst our children, amongst ourselves? Planning daily life around our ROOTS meetups
instead of it being optional when we felt like it.
I would get home from meetups always feeling so radiant. If one other family had come or if 15 families showed up. Over a year had gone by and I would edit pictures after dinner still in shock anyone had come at all! I’ve never felt much like a leader but I have always loved being outside, barefoot and basking in the sunlight with my children at my side. I have always loved sharing that passion with others.
It was the middle of winter now and I remembered how much the group loved our Bowie base camp. I switched things up the last week of January and we met at our old spot. She was as beautiful as ever and just as we had left her. So many moms showed up! We played, we climbed, we chatted. We hiked and ended up finding a long stretch of ditch filled in with water from the night before. The kids splashed in the water for hours. Running back and forth, stomping and sitting in it. Smiles beamed and the sun was shining. The kids found an all natural seesaw and everyone took turns - sometimes six kids on at the same time! Besides our meetup at Annmarie Gardens coming up, I quickly edited our upcoming events to take place in Bowie - guess that was farewell to you, Annapolis, thank you for the memories and the inspiration!
Chapter Six: New Beginnings, Deeper Roots, a Business!
I can’t pinpoint exact days or times or conversations but over the last six months a friend and I started dreaming up what it would look like turning ROOTS into a co-op. A weekly meetup with committed members. Not a come-as-you-please event any longer. It had worked wonderfully for so long but we could tell our kids needed familiar faces and consistency and honestly, so did we. We so badly craved community but it was becoming more and more obvious we wouldn’t get with the current set up and the ebb and flow of participants. We were growing and needed the group to grow with us. We’d casually mention how cool it would be to pioneer that for our kids, how maybe one day we would get to it. I had just clawed my way out of the deep hell hole that is mold and Kate had just had just given birth to her second child. Kate, who happened to find my group on facebook last year in our Bowie era has been my cheerleader throughout the growth of ROOTS. In Mayo she encouraged me to start the Natural Minded Motherhood facebook group. A place where we could chat all things motherhood, womanhood, life and everything in between. A space so badly needed by our local community that seemingly doesn’t exist beyond private facebook messages. I was hesitant and already in charge of so many other online platforms but I took her persistence as a sign and pushed my fear aside. We’ve gone from around 200 members to almost 700 in a few short months. The feedback I’ve received and the thanks from strangers and friends alike has only further pushed me to follow my dreams.
One day very recently, Kate and I looked at each other and were kinda like…want to do this thing? Want to turn ROOTS into a co-op for real, for real? We both excitedly said YES but left it at that. We casually planned out loud, bounced ideas and thoughts off of each other but nothing serious. We went for long walks, the dream was threaded here and there...we would briefly speak of it at Forest Friends meetups. Then a word document was created to host all of our ideas. By the following day the word document went from a few ideas to a very detailed plan 6 pages long. The ideas document turned into a field trip calendar, turned into contacting nature centers, rangers, and phone call meetings with farmers. Expense spreadsheets were created and a logo was being bid. A liability waiver was drafted and a website was created. An instagram was made and so was a separate facebook. It was happening. In the blink of an eye we turned ROOTS into a full blown LLC. I am so happy to announce to you the start of a new season for myself, for Kate, for our families, and YOURS. Introducing:
Growing and Learning Through Connection with Nature
It is both exhilarating and terrifying starting a business. If I have learned anything over the last 14 months it’s that I need to surrender to ideas and gifts and opportunities placed in front of me and live fearlessly. I never want to look back on my life's decisions and regret not taking a leap of faith. Regret allowing self-doubt and what-ifs to make decisions for me. It feels very raw to have you all - new friends, old friends, strangers and family - watch as I take this giant step into the unknown alongside Kate. My only wish is to look back on this time of my life in years to come and be grateful that I took a chance on myself, on my kids and their future. Their homeschool journey. My journey as a mother, as a friend, as a community member.
I can’t want to have the time of my life with you and your children, alongside my own. I can’t wait to explore nature with you and help facilitate that love of unstructured outdoor time and child-led free play (no matter the weather!). We’re going to have so much fun. We’re going to learn so much. We’re going to grow together. Our kids will grow up together. We will build the community we so badly want, the community we talk about needing. We’ll give our children the childhood of their dreams, together.
I would be grateful if you checked out our website and gave us a follow on Instagram and Facebook. We’ll be posting helpful tips, researched backed information, activity ideas, and updates on our official start date! Any feedback, questions, concerns, etc can be emailed to us at rootswildschool@gmail.com
A few extra thank you's - Jordan, as I was attaching pictures to this post I saw that you were in our very first photo, at our very first meetup back at South River Farms park, and you've come to almost every single meetup since. There's been meetups you were the only person to show up, weeks I needed to cancel because I was out of town and you volunteered to lead, you encouraged me alongside Kate to start the facebook group. I'm so grateful to you and for your support and commitment to the group. You're a phenomenal mother and forest friend and I'm so glad you decided to show up all those many months ago.
Libby and Hannah - my bestie girls. Thank you. Thank you for showing up when you could and always trying to make it work. There is nothing more rewarding than having friends who show up for you. I love both of you so dang much and I'm grateful every single day to have you on my team. You are the rocks in my life I can always turn to for unbiased advice, loving criticism, ears to complain to and also bask in the joy of motherhood with. I love raising littles with you both - thank you for all of your support for Roots Forest Friends and the support I know you'll continue to provide me with wherever this next journey takes me.
Kate - I’ll never forget meeting you on your first day in Bowie. I was shocked to find out that you hadn’t found my group through a local group I moderated but instead from a simple search! It made me feel like maybe I was really starting something outside of my small group of people who already knew me. You showed up every single week, without fail. You made engaging conversation, vulnerable admissions and truly showed yourself as someone who longed for community amongst like-minded mothers. You were a friendly face to everyone who showed up, old or new, and always made everyone feel welcome. Over the following year you continued to encourage me on the growth of the group and day dreamed alongside me for the endless possibilities we could award our children with someday. I couldn’t have made this leap without you. I am so grateful you believed in me and trusted me. I’m so grateful we share the same vision and align on most things motherhood, sisterhood, lifestyle and community. Thank you for everything, I’m so grateful for this friendship.
We still have a couple more meetups planned until this next chapter begins, I hope to see you there!
Thank you again for the never-ending support and love and courage you all have provided me thus far.
Love to each and every one of you,
Emily
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