Where the Crabs Crawl and Courage Grows

a love letter to Ocean State Kids, written by Sam Sweet

During our Autumn Nature Guardian meeting, Sam Sweet had hoped to share these words aloud — a reflection from the heart about motherhood, community, and the unexpected lessons that come from raising children in nature. Time slipped away, and we never got to hear her speak them in person — something we truly regret, because her story carries the exact spirit of what Ocean State Kids exists to nurture.

Last night, Sam shared how her children have rekindled her love for simple wonders — like searching for crabs along the shoreline — and helped her release old fears she didn’t even realize she’d been carrying.

In this story, you will read about belonging, courage, and the quiet ways we come home to ourselves through our children. We’re honored to share her words here, in this digital space, as both a testament and a true reflection of what we hope to give: connection, meaning, and the reminder that even the smallest discoveries — sometimes under a rock, or within ourselves — can change everything.

A love letter to Ocean State Kids

At Ocean State Kids (OSK), my kids learn, make friends, and thrive while exploring new places and experiences. But OSK is just as much for me as it is for them. I learn, I make friends, and I get to explore right alongside them. Some of our best times together—and the memories we’ll always hold onto—are our OSK days.

When I look around this room, I see women I talk to on a regular basis—women who inspire me, teach me, comfort me, and truly help me through this journey. Women who laugh with me, empathize with me, check in on me… women I truly cannot imagine life without. These are our memories too. We are living this chapter of our lives for the first time, right alongside our kids. And we matter just as much as they do.

So now, without making this all about me (but just for a moment it will be), I want to share: my husband travels often for work, and I never realized how hard that would be until having kids. For as long as I can remember, I wore it like a badge of honor: “It’s fine, I can do it myself.” That has pretty much always been my mantra. It’s like I’ve been on a mission to prove to the world that I can do anything—by myself and do it well.

But the truth is, it’s hard as FLUFF. (That’s what we say in our house instead of my favorite four-letter F word.) Trying to do this all alone is extremely difficult. I used to talk about the days when the only other adult I spoke to was the librarian in the children’s room, and it would never go past surface-level greetings. I’d literally be “alone” (which seems crazy to say when you have three small humans who won’t stop touching you—but if you know, you know) for days at a time, fighting battles within myself and feeling sorry for myself.

Sometimes the time change would be wild, and my husband would be out on a submarine without any service to communicate with us. Those were the times I used to feel myself literally going crazy. I’d have really sad, depressing thoughts like, “Wow, if anything happened to me, would anyone even have a clue?” Anyways, I didn’t mean to go down that depressing rabbit hole—but the point is, ever since joining OSK, I no longer feel alone.

I have made genuine friends who are more than family—friends who love my kids as their own, who say they’d do anything for us, and I know they actually mean it. The impact this community has had on my family is immeasurable. It has shaped our foundation, changed the trajectory of our lives, and fills us with love that continues to grow in our hearts.

We are learning invaluable life skills here and exploring relationship dynamics we never would have otherwise. For a long time, I carried shame and guilt about not being able to “afford” formal education for my kids after having our third baby and cutting back on work. I felt like I was failing them—like maybe if I worked more strange hours and sacrificed even more sleep, I could send them somewhere fancy with structure, phonics, and academics.

But OSK has surprised me in more ways than I can count. My kids are doing just fine with this setup. And by just fine, I mean freaking fantastic. They teach me every single day. We learn together, we bond constantly, and that last part is so important to me. I know everyone in this room can relate to feeling how sacred this fleeting time together is. I want to soak it all in while I can.

Of course, there are hard days too—the kind where it feels like the best option might actually be shipping them off to boarding school in Timbuktu. But those days are fleeting too, and the good far outweighs the bad. The truth is, we are so lucky and grateful to be here and to be together. OSK is the perfect place for us. It works for our schedule, it works for us financially, and it fills our lives with meaning and love. We will do anything and everything to make sure we always have this community.

OSK is truly invaluable to us. Thank you, Marial, for creating this magic. You have given us not just a place to belong, but a place to thrive—and a “family” we can count on.