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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:13 pm
by SoCalHiker
MikeTX wrote:
they both were complaining at the end, but they had fun exploring. exploring. ever since that day, i try not to use the h-word.



Good idea to avoid the word "hiking"; sounds boring and tedious. Adventure and exploring is more fun. Yeah, I can understand that. The pic where your kids are scrambling up the rocks...my kids would love that too. Thanks.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 3:59 pm
by SoCalHiker
gbeane wrote:I have a 1.5 year old son (born exactly 18 months ago today, boy that has flown by). We've been taking him out hiking and snowshoeing since he was about a month old. He loves it, and I hope he still does once he is older (and daddy isn't carrying him any more). He also seems to like spending time at the family camp (gas lights, no running water). I've just started taking up rock climbing (this winter, so all my time has been in a gym so far), and hopefully that will be something we can do together when he is older.

There was this one traumatizing hiking incident, but he forgave me pretty quickly - I was hiking with him in the fall in Acadia National Park, he was small (born in August, a month early) so he was still in the chest carrier, but had graduated to facing forward. I took a spill and caught myself with my hands with his face about an inch from the ground. When I was going down all I could picture was a broken nose at best, but he escaped without injury. That was one of the worst feelings in the world.


Yes, I was carrying my kids in these carriers all the time too when they were little. We went out basically every weekend. We did many really long hikes with a lot of elevation gain with these carriers. It was fun. Once they were old enough to walk by themselves they gradually lost interest over the years until they completely stopped enjoying it (at least that's what they tell me before the hikes) when they were around 8 years old.

I am glad that incident did not cause any injuries to your baby. I was worried about that many times myself.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:10 pm
by SoCalHiker
Dougb wrote:I've hiked with my kid 2-300 times (at least) and the worst thing that has happened was that she got stung by a bee. I didn't see it in time and it got her. The one thing I'm concerned about where I live is her stepping on a snake. But generally, hiking with kids is a relatively safe exercize, the dangerous part is the driving. The exhausting part for me is keeping her mentally engaged, and happy, and going at a very slow pace. I used to memorize children's books and regurgitate them on the trail, now we just make up our own story as we go. More than one person has told me "they grow up fast" and boy they weren't kidding. It won't be long til she's gone and I'll be lucky to see her at Christmas.


Yeah, I am always worried about their safety when we are at some more remote places outdoors. We ran into rattlers many times, sometime too close for comfort. My kids find that very interesting and thrilling. I have to hold them back usually to not get closer. We went to the Eastern Sierra many years ago and the kids were running quite a bit ahead of me along a trail. Then I saw two coyotes fairly close to them. I was really very scared and made sure to keep them close by (at least in reach) after that. Yeah, worries come along with being a parent.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:34 pm
by SoCalHiker
Dingus Milktoast wrote:
Its the human part of these adventures, where the real danger lurks. A snake, coyote, or lion... million to one, imo.

DMT


I totally agree. But the worries will still linger in the back of my head every time we go outdoors.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:31 pm
by SoCalHiker
Dingus Milktoast wrote:See Doug I KNEW my words would have no effect. There is nothing I can say to tamp down that snake worry you have. Its not rational and you know it and still, there it is. I have my own fears, some less rational than others. Snakes ain't one of em though.

Image

Cheers!
DMT


nice pic BTW. Thinking about possible harm, I just realized that I worry a lot about Poison Oak here in SoCal since my kids tend to run off the trail all the time. And I've seen many really bad and serious cases of Poison Oak reactions.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:52 pm
by WileyCoyote
SoCal,

You can call it an adventure and if your kids are as, if not more, tech savvy than you then have them take pix or video while exploring and post it on your websites and profiles.

Then they can text and email these same pix also to their friends as opposed to surfing the net or zombifying themselves with video games. Unless a majority of their friends participate in "true" outdoors activities, they may feel at times you're depriving them.

You could challenge them to take pix better than other kids or at least as good in kids mags like those from National Geographic like My Big Backyard. If they're tween ages, then use a little reverse psychology.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:37 pm
by SoCalHiker
WileyCoyote wrote:SoCal,

You can call it an adventure and if your kids are as, if not more, tech savvy than you then have them take pix or video while exploring and post it on your websites and profiles.

Then they can text and email these same pix also to their friends as opposed to surfing the net or zombifying themselves with video games. Unless a majority of their friends participate in "true" outdoors activities, they may feel at times you're depriving them.

You could challenge them to take pix better than other kids or at least as good in kids mags like those from National Geographic like My Big Backyard. If they're tween ages, then use a little reverse psychology.


Like it a lot. Thanks. I probably will try that this weekend.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 5:53 pm
by SoCalHiker
Since you all gave me some good advice on how to engage young kids to go with their dad on a hiking trip I just wanted to give you an update on how it went on one of the last weekends. We went on an adventure trip (yeah, I learned not to use the word "hiking") in Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains with the prospect of some bouldering and wading through water. I "commissioned" my daughter to be the field photographer for most of the day and my son to explore the terrain ahead of us. I have to say it was probably one of the most enjoyable outings in quite some time. Everybody seemed to like it. My kids climbed (or tried at least) every boulder on our way... and there are many :D We had many snacks with us and I was patient to let them explore and climb every climbable rock on our way.

Just one picture of our fun day...

Image

Thanks again to everybody for chipping in on that topic.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:16 pm
by SoCalHiker
simpson wrote:Did you take any pictures of the kids bouldering?


No, I was not in charge of taking pictures this time :)

PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:15 am
by SoCalHiker
butitsadryheat wrote:You took pictures, just with your mind instead of with the camera, and you'll remember this day for a long time.


Nice and true words. Thanks.

PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:15 am
by SoCalHiker
MikeTX wrote:way to go, guido! glad y'all had fun!


Thanks. I just hope that they will enjoy the next one as well. Cheers.