Tim and I decided we wanted to do something special and fun with the girls for the holiday. I'm horrible at making holiday plans, and since we spent the last few years of outdoor holidays at the cabin, we're behind. So we chose to take the girls on their first all day hike. Five miles, and our goal was to go slow, stop, have fun, and practice being outside and together for however long it takes -- which if you are wondering -- is about 6 hours including a few fits, a dip in the river, training on how to pee outside, a picnic lunch, and time to stop to color.
We had a general plan. Lots of love and support with fairly low expectations. But we could not believe our morning. Quinn literally started the day by waking us up to throw a fit. There was something in the air, and everyone screamed all morning -- except me. See, everything was backward. There were a few triple threats when everyone cried at once. And this was all before I even had my shoes tied. As we were leaving the front porch finally ready for the hike. Tim had to dramatically get the keys and go back inside to put Kenna in timeout. Hilarious. I was still very calm. Just excited to get away from the house and hopeful that everyone would calm down. The funny thing was they all WANTED to go on this hike. It was just little things seemed huge to them this morning. There were fits about second breakfast, toddler-sized sun glasses, taking pictures with mom's phone, who'll be the leader, what to wear, what to (not be allowed to)bring and so so. We laughed a lot because it was nuts. If the sandwiches and guacamole weren't already pack, we might have called it off.
In the end we had a nice time with lots of emotional highs and lows. At first Kenna rocked the hiking, but unexpectedly sat down on the trail during mile 1, and then it was hit or miss the rest of the day. She's usually tired or her foot hurts or she's "burning hot." At one point and then toward the end for awhile Tim carried Kenna on his shoulders and Lizza on his chest. He's tough!
Quinn was an actual delight once we left the house. She had one fit about her water, but mostly she was the peace maker of the day and gave up things to help everyone else stay happy. I was really proud of her. It made me want to spend more time as a mother pointing out the peacemaker and praising that role in a given moment.
We worked hard together all day. At one point when at least one person was whining, I turned to Tim and said, "At least we're not home with them whining all day. This is better, right?" He agreed. They didn't fight with each other at all, which was so relaxing. And they completed the challenge, which made them feel really good. But for some reason, my feet feel like the children were standing on them all day. So sore. We're also sunburnt and exhausted.
When we got home, Tim and I could barely move. And within about a minute the kids ran outside to hunt for Rollie Pollies. What? Later they started screaming bloody murder about peach yogurt when it was time to go to the pool. I sent Tim to go ahead first without us so I could stay home and calmly help them through the craziness. Lizza was the peace maker this time and she gave Quinn the last spoon so she and Kenna could split the only peach yogurt.
As we walked out to the car for the pool -- finally -- my neighbor said something uninformed like, "Sounds like you've got your hands full today." She always looks at me like my life is so hard and so sad ... But she is not really interested in helping. I think that is sad for her. She'll never know just how complicated and dynamic our day was and just how much we learned. It's was awesome. It was easier to teach, easier to parent, easier to breathe. I loved it -- even when I had to turn on my phone so Kenna could listen to her favorite songs for inspiration.
So tired. Need more TV. Good Night.
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