The Hazard Chronicles

This week began and ended with hikes. And in the middle...well, more hikes. We love summer time in Post Falls! There are tons of hikes around here and our kids are getting to the age where it is fun to get outside and on the trail. There are a few "rules," however, that we have discovered about hiking with small children. When followed, these rules make it so that the whole family can have an enjoyable outing. When ignored, the whole thing tends to go down hill pretty fast. For those with young children, here are our rules:

1) Absolutely, under no circumstances, should there be any expectations of actually reaching a specified destination. Failure to follow this rule can easily end in tears when your children decide to grind your expectations into the dirt with their faces, elbows, knees, and shins. We have found that it is much easier to hike for a specified amount of time with mini-destinations along the way. For example, a lot of the trails around here have benches or other designated rest areas along the way. This makes it easy to go from point to point, and to turn around when your kids are showing signs of restlessness instead of when you reach a certain location.

2) Do not plan on getting a work out. You will move very, very slowly. Kids have short legs and even shorter attention spans for monotonous hiking. Instead, it is fun to embrace the leisurly pace and look for small points of interest along the way (bugs, cool rocks and leaves, rabbit holes and bird nests, etc.)

3) Plan frequent rest stops. We bring small snacks, and tell the kids what they can look forward to at the next stop ("When we reach the next bench, we have fruit bars!"). The frequent stops allow the kids a chance to rest and to explore their surroundings without having to stay on the beaten path.

4) Relax! Kids are durable! They can get muddy. They can fall down and scrape their knees. They can eat bugs. Really, there are very few things that are truly harmful to them. Gross, yes. But patience and freedom go hand-in-hand in teaching kids about the wonderful world in which they live. In short, let them be kids! As Ms. Frizzle (of Magic School Bus fame) says, It's time to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!

5) Bring band-aids. This is a lesson I learned a long time ago, and now I always carry a few spare band-aids in my wallet. It's true that 9 times out of 10 they do absolutely nothing, and it is also true that my 4-year-old daughter can explain to you what the placebo effect is, but the truth is that it works. If a kid is screaming, there is no quicker way to make them feel better than to slap a band-aid on wherever area they are pointing to, give them a quick hug, and then let them run off to find another way to hurt themself.

6) Encouragment is the key. Tell them that they are good hikers, even when they aren't. It works. Kids will live up or down to whatever expectations you set for them. Unfortunately, there are far too many kids who are labled BY THEIR PARENTS as being "prissy" or "shy" or "clumsy" or "slow" or a whole host of other negative things, and it is all they can do to live down to these lables. Take Addy for example. She was probably the worse hiker on the planet. Seriouly. She was scared to step over small pebbles for fear of falling, and would just say "I can't" in a very whiney voice and insist that we carry her. This could have gotten very frusterating very fast, and it would have been easy to just give up. But instead, by reinforcing to her that she is a "Good Hiker," and praising her when she did venture outside of her comfort zone, she now not only enjoys hiking, but has also truly become the good hiker that we told her she was. Now this seems so intuitive, and I'm not trying to toot my own parenting horn here, but I see SO MANY parents who, from a very young age, ruin their children by placing negative lables on them. As if it's not obvious, it makes me upset to see this. You are their parent. Believe me, the world will let them know soon enough what their shortcomings are. Please, help them to develop some self confidence before that happens. Confident kids can stand up to outside scrutiny.

7) Woah- that last one got off track a little bit- but it does apply to hiking too. Anyway, the seventh rule is to keep it fun. If you ever want your children to enjoy something then don't force it on them. You'll burn them out.

8) Find special moments for one-on-one time. It can be easy to get caught up in being the shephard of the ninty-and-nine (at least it seems that way sometimes) that the one is sometimes forgotten. I often have to remind myself that I don't just have "4 wonderful children", but that instead I have a wonderful and inteligent Evelyn, an amazingly cute and sunshiney Adalie, an adventurous and independant Jackson, and a serene and easy-going Maren who each have their individual personalities and needs. It is important to respond to these needs and allow their personalities to come through as individuals and not just as members of a larger group under the umbrella term of "kids."

9-10) This one deserves two, because it is the most important. Are you ready for it. Here it is. To borrow from Nike- Just Do It! Sometimes it seems impossible to get out, and you will have a thousand reasons not to go, and a million other things to do that seem more pressing at the moment. Again- Just Do It! It's worth it.

Here are some pictures of our adventures this week.