Embrace The Kids – Make Them The Reason
Embrace The Kids – Make Them The Reason
Having children changes everything. Being a parent opens a whole new world of responsibilities. Its now harder to get a full nights sleep, there are always messes to clean up, the time to get ready and out the door just doubled and even the luggage can easily double on a trip.
With all of these added responsibilities it is so easy to let your children become the EXCUSE not to do some things that you used to love to do. While some activities like sky diving aren’t advised, or even legal, with a young child, we decided that we would try to embrace our children and make them the REASON to get out and keep doing the things we love with them.
Embrace The Change
There is no doubt about it, children change how we live our lives. Going on a hike or just to the store is a completely different experience when the kids tag-a-long. Your pace on a hike or making dinner may have to be slowed. When going on a road or backpacking trip you may have to take more breaks then you are used too.
The focus of the trip often changes. Instead of worrying about your own personal problems (like being cold) you may have to focus on what is going on with your little one. I’ll be honest, that is not always where my focus lies. Sometimes I get caught up in all the things that are going wrong, how much time is just put into getting food and other supplies ready. We have noticed though as you change your focus to your kids, and try to make things exciting and enjoyable for them, then my own perspective changes and the experience is much more meaningful.
A huge change when you start your journey with embracing kids is preparation.
Example 1: Before we had kids, hiking was all about pushing ourselves. It was fun to challenge ourselves and see how fast we could hike somewhere. We would take very few to no breaks, if we were feeling good we would just keep truckin’. We have had to make big changes now that we involve our kids on our hikes. We stopped worrying about how fast we go, how many breaks we do or don’t take. We usually still get to our desired destination (it just may be a few hours later). Going slower and taking more breaks has actually helped us to enjoy and see things differently then we did before.
Example 2: Who likes going to the store? I have never been a big fan. Then add two kids, now I am even less of a fan. It would be easier to just leave them somewhere. My wonderful husband is great at changing his focus and embracing our kids. Instead of just doing a quick in and out shopping trip by himself he will often make it a daddy date. He will make it sound exciting and fun. He turns a boring chore into bonding, relationship building, and enjoyable time for both him and my daughter.
Embrace The Challenge
Children are challenging. Even in the comfort of your home they are challenging and bringing them on adventures often creates new and different challenges. I’ll be open and honest, some experiences really just SUCK! (I really hate that word, but I couldn’t think of a simpler way to put it). Things go wrong, people aren’t happy, you forgot things, food isn’t ready fast enough, you are tired, kids are tired, you want to cry, the kids are crying, you want to sleep and the kids are awake. The list could go on and on about different challenges that we all face.
The question is… What do you do with that challenge?? Do you give up and say you are never doing something again? OR Do you take each challenge and learn something from it? I am not always the best at doing the latter but, don’t give up on what you love because it didn’t go as planned. Assess the problems and figure out how you can avoid or change them on your next trip.
We have found that when our children are having a hard time with a situation it is usually because we didn’t mentally prepare them for the experience. Telling them what to expect and how they can behave made a remarkable difference for us in many situations.
Example 1: We went on a trip (more details here) and our two year old wanted to hike. For the first 100 yards this was a HUGE challenge. It took forever! Every five steps she was stopping and looking at a new rock. We were getting frustrated and pushing her to hurry up.
Somewhere along the way, our focus changed. We stopped thinking about ourselves and what we wanted. We focused on her and the whole purpose of the trip. We let her enjoy running and exploring. As we assessed the challenge and turned our focus to her, we all enjoyed the hike a heck of a lot more.
Example 2: Our two-year-old does pretty good in a pack. Every now and then though, we face some challenges. Like… she doesn’t want to get in, she wants to get out, or she’s just whiny. Here are some tips for each:
When our daughter doesn’t want to get in the pack, it’s usually because we didn’t prepare her. She is like most of us. She wants to know the game plan and she wants to have fun. So we tell her when she is getting in or back in and then what she will experience when she does. We get her excited to see new things like birds, deer, trees, BIG rocks, or whatever else we can think of. We’re Going On A Bear Hunt has become one of our favorite books lately. We reference it A LOT on our trips.
When she wants out of the pack, it’s a good idea to let them out. You might have to take more breaks then planned, it’s ok. Let them run around for a while but like mentioned before, prepare them to get back in when the break is over. Its great to get to your destination but getting there is at least half of the experience.
Last, they are whiny or crying. You could take another break, but sometimes that gets old and you want to go a little further. Adam usually carries Emery and he is great about talking to her and pointing things out to her. He makes up games with her and helps her change her attitude.
Ex: A simple game we play is smash the pine cones. It is so simple but she really enjoys it. Just find all the pine cones you can and smash them haha. The crunching sound is pretty exciting. She even started naming them Mommy, Daddy, Mazie, and Emery pine cones. Find what excites your little ones, and focus on what makes them happy. If they are happy then you are going to be happy right??
One more tip: If everything is going completely wrong, take a step back, slow down, and take a deep deep breath. I believe in you. You will survive. 🙂
Embrace The Motivation
As a parent of two girls my thoughts often wander to the teenage years and beyond. I am sure, or at least hope, everyone has these same wandering thoughts of their littles growing up. What are they going to be like? What are their interests going to be? Am I going to have a good relationship with them? What are they going to accomplish? As I think about these questions they become my motivation. Kids grow and develop so stinkin’ fast!! They are changing everyday.
I want, as I am sure most parents do, a good relationship with them. I want to be able to talk about anything with them. I want them to be able to trust me and vice versa. This is why we choose to embrace our kids. This is why we take them on our camping, hiking, and backpacking trips. Why we take them out to eat with us, go on long road trips, and spend one on one time with each other. We take our kids with us so we can learn more about them, and how they react in different situations. Let them be the reason to get you out more often.
Embrace the kids does not imply that they have to be with you every single minute of everyday. It is ok to lock them out of the bathroom so you can have a pee break. It’s a good idea to go on a date with your spouse with no kids. Just don’t let them become an excuse. They can be great friends and we can learn so much from them. Embrace the new experiences. Embrace the challenges that come. Embrace The Kids.
Adam & Paige
P.S. We are able to embrace our children more often, and afford to do so much more because of our Digital Affiliate Marketing business. We are offering a Free Live Broadcast that will show you exactly what we have done to change the way we work and really live the lifestyle of our dreams. Come check it out.
If this is useful let us know, comment below, or snap a photo and hashtag it #EmbraceThekids — We love to see the fun things you are doing and the adventures you are going on. Find us: @EmbraceTheKids
Inspiration: Grant Cardone, Dr John Demartini, Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, Alison Faulkner- The Alison Show, The Original Power Couple, North Country Littles, Melyssa Griffin, REI, Osprey Packs, Deuter, Mike Clelland, Ultralight Backpacking.
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