Monday, May 2, 2011

Oh what a week!

5 days, 3 hikes with a kiddo and a run without.  Now that is heaven.  Right?  I think so.  Red may be getting to the age that she doesn't agree.  Not to get me wrong, I have a very even tempered, easy going kiddo, but on our Wednesday hike in Forest Park, she very clearly said "want to get out" about a mile and a half from the car.  I'm curious what other outdoorsy parents did or do to stay out a little longer.  Does a parent simply have to accept that trails will be a lot shorter in distance and a lot longer in duration? Or is there a way to meet in the middle?  I don't have the answer, so if you do, leave a comment on the post!  I'll keep you posted about what we find out for our kiddo.  I'm told it is just something that we have to go and work through, and as we do, I'll be happy to post 3 attempts at taking one picture and continue to remind myself that we are raising an independant free thinker, and one that loves nature... right?




This is the end of the hike that represents half of the Forest Park Conservancy's All Trails Challenge; 40 miles of Forest Park, complete.  30 of them with Red.  Man, I love this girl!

2 comments:

  1. OK, I just lost my whole comment, so I will try again! I just popped over here from Outdoor Baby Network. I lived near Forest Park for a year when I was in college, and used to go there several times a week to walk and pray. It's so cool that you have this resource in your back yard!

    I wanted to encourage you in the stage you are in with your girl - I haven't read too many posts on your blog yet, so bear with me! In my experience, the toddler years are the most challenging for hiking with children, almost tied with preschool years. They can't walk very far but they honestly don't want to be carried as much, and they start to get really heavy! Do you have a hiking backpack designed to carry children? That might be your next step.

    When my kids were that age, I found our hikes compressed to more local natural outings and less longer wilderness hikes. We stopped often on the trail to let the little one out to stretch and run around. That meant the progress was slow. Sometimes we didn't make it to our destination. THere were often tears involved - especially on the way out of a long hike, where we just had miles to cover to get to the car, and they couldn't get out, they just had to deal with being cooped up in the pack.

    I found I constantly had to remind myself of the point of it all - encouraging my kids to fall in love with nature, not just make it to a destination. I didn't want every hike to be full of whining, complaining, and nagging (at least not from my end!). And honestly, I had to get out more without my little one, so that I could get my own refreshing from nature, since it took so much out of me to corral a little one on the trail. But now my youngest is 5, and she did 3 miles easily yesterday, and she told me that when she grew up and had kids, she was going to take them hiking every day. :) So hang in there! This is an "interesting" period you are in, but there are many rewards.

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  2. Great reminder that it is about the journey, not the destination (although making it back to the car is always good) ;).

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