last weekend we put our family to the test and went tent camping with the kids for the first time. my worst nightmare of Cameron crying all night didn't come true but it was definitely not the quintessential perfect family camping trip. taking away many of our daily comforts really put stress on all of us and we did not use this power for good. now, don't get me wrong we did have some good times but the kids were a bunch of needy, complaining, annoying little people. we decided that they must be like this all the time but we mask it with things like TV, internet & life's busyness. Chris and i both think this is something we need to be more conscious about and perhaps look into changing. i don't think it's their faults, i blame the parents... but i refuse to raise brats and i feel like maybe we're headed that way. they've never been ones to just run off and play -- our kids need to be entertained all the time and that was very obvious this weekend.
another problem is that we are a very routine based household so it's hard to throw the kids into a new situation without a lot of headache. we seemed to be resisting the change rather than embracing it. we just weren't working in harmony out there. i think we should have started with one night instead of two and perhaps we should have started with a cabin and worked our way down to a tent. but to be honest i'm not sure it would have been much different if we stayed in a hotel! on our last night we were *this* close to going home early. we let Mayden make the final decision and she decided we'd stay in the tent so we did and it turned out to be really nice and we actually seemed to be starting to click. we changed sleeping arrangements a bit and all got more sleep than the first night (which always helps!). i was happy we stuck it out and didn't give up early. in the end though i'm just not sure it was worth it.
we learned a thing or two...
Cameron calls his feet "socks"
pie irons are great to cook over the fire with... we did hot dogs, grilled cheese & pizza
we need a bigger cooler
kids + water = a good time
children can survive on mostly pretzels & goldfish for at least 48 hours
Cameron sleeps best (away from home) right next to his mama
i shouldn't bother bringing a book for myself
1 comment:
i like your last statement about not bringing a book.
Our first tent experience was in the backyard.
Our first camping experience, with ONE KID, was with grandparents, so I did get a bit of reading when they all went hiking and I stayed behind. And when I went hiking, son stayed behind. GREAT TIME.
My idea: the ratio should be 3 to 1. 3 adult for every 1 kid!
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