I drive carpool most mornings lately.

I do it because it gets me out of the house and on my way to the gym. It works. And we have a very specific routine in the mornings. That routine includes what streets we take to get to the school. It’s all very predictable. We never deviate from the path.

Except for today.

This morning, as I approached the corner where we make our usual left-hand turn into the drop-off line, the cars were backed up more than normal. In the moment, I decided to take a different route to try and circumvent the delay. My three sons said nothing, but one of the neighbor kids screamed out, “what are you doing? You can’t go this way!”

He was freaked out. I wish I were exaggerating. He was seriously strained. I attempted to calm him down with, “Hey, this might be faster.” But he wasn’t buying it. “Have you ever gone this way before?,” he asked. “Nope. Never. But it’s worth a try,” I replied.

“It’s not going to be faster,” he kept repeating. Then I said, “Don’t be afraid of change!” I repeated that phrase to him several times until he stopped asking me questions. “Don’t be afraid of change!” But when we got back to the spot we were headed in the first place, he said with great pride, “See, it wasn’t any faster.”

He was right. It wasn’t any faster. It was just different. And it was still worth the shot, in my mind. My kids didn’t care. They said, “Nice try, Dad.”

I wondered why my kids didn’t react the same way or join in the questioning. It didn’t take me long to figure it out. They’re used to it. They enjoy what we call,  “adventure days.” These are days we pile them in the truck and head out with no specific course or objective in mind. We just go explore and stop wherever it feels right. They’ve come to expect the unexpected from me and my wife. So, they didn’t react at all to the change. That makes me happy.

The world is changing fast. I want my kids to be able to roll with the change, try new things, not be afraid to take a new path. I think our “adventure days” have helped.

What things do you do to help your kids embrace change?

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