Today I forced the children to go on a hike. How dare I do such a thing! I suppose this is out of character for me as I am not usually a big fan of hiking. In this area, however, it was more like a leisurely stroll in the shade, so I dragged them to the car, strapped them in, drove them there, and marched them through a mile (or longer) hike. Sarah got stung by a bee, bit by a red ant, eaten by a spider, and attacked by numerous of other bugs. All in her mind, of course. Zach caught the vision shortly into the hike and raced ahead the rest of the way. This led to a number of crashes on his part.
After one such crash, Sarah was kind enough to let him wipe his dirty hands on her skirt. The very same skirt that early on in the hike was a reason why she simply could not go on the hike--her skirt might get dirty. Wouldn't that be traumatic? Sometimes she can be so sweet, and other times so saucy.
After getting over this hurdle (see the little wooden step in the trail?), Zach felt that it was necessary to applaud himself. He was so thrilled you would have thought he had won an Olympic hiking race or something.
Sometimes the little darlings actually got along. Once Sarah decided that hiking wasn't that awful, she had fun for about two minutes until she remembered that I had said we could go to McDonalds after the hike. Then she was ready to just get on with the Happy Meal already.
We even made Zach carry the backpack for a little while. A very little while. It may have been two minutes. Or less.
Just as he has never met a rock he didn't like (and he has met many, many, many rocks), it appears that he is never going to meet a log he doesn't like. Logs are like new-found friends. You can't throw them like our friends, rocks, but you can sure climb on them like crazy. We survived. And Sarah has informed me that we are never going back there again. See what I mean about saucy?!
Today I forced the children to go on a hike. How dare I do such a thing! I suppose this is out of character for me as I am not usually a big fan of hiking. In this area, however, it was more like a leisurely stroll in the shade, so I dragged them to the car, strapped them in, drove them there, and marched them through a mile (or longer) hike. Sarah got stung by a bee, bit by a red ant, eaten by a spider, and attacked by numerous of other bugs. All in her mind, of course. Zach caught the vision shortly into the hike and raced ahead the rest of the way. This led to a number of crashes on his part.
After one such crash, Sarah was kind enough to let him wipe his dirty hands on her skirt. The very same skirt that early on in the hike was a reason why she simply could not go on the hike--her skirt might get dirty. Wouldn't that be traumatic? Sometimes she can be so sweet, and other times so saucy.
After getting over this hurdle (see the little wooden step in the trail?), Zach felt that it was necessary to applaud himself. He was so thrilled you would have thought he had won an Olympic hiking race or something.
Sometimes the little darlings actually got along. Once Sarah decided that hiking wasn't that awful, she had fun for about two minutes until she remembered that I had said we could go to McDonalds after the hike. Then she was ready to just get on with the Happy Meal already. 
We even made Zach carry the backpack for a little while. A very little while. It may have been two minutes. Or less.
Just as he has never met a rock he didn't like (and he has met many, many, many rocks), it appears that he is never going to meet a log he doesn't like. Logs are like new-found friends. You can't throw them like our friends, rocks, but you can sure climb on them like crazy. We survived. And Sarah has informed me that we are never going back there again. See what I mean about saucy?!
2 comments:
I want to give this post the award for most successfully classifying Sarah as the most consistent inconsistent 5-year-old out there. Well done.
Is that the Hudson River Trail? Good on you, for taking a hike every ten years or so.
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