In keeping with my Super Mom theme, I thought I would take my girls up to the snow, by myself, without a husband, just three girls and me. The idea was good, but the result was not what I'd hoped.
The snow covered mountains in contrast to the blue sky called to us. Thinking most everyone else would be in school or at work, I decided to play the "we homeschool so we can," card and take a day off of school and take the kids to Mount Baldy to do some inner tubing down some powdery slopes. With wardrobe provisions by Kelly Hawkes and family, we were set to go. Traveling up the mountain, for the most part, was not too scary until we got really close to the top: the hair pins turns, with locals following close behind, signs that said "Chains required beyond this point," and three kids constantly asking questions I felt my blood pressure steadily rising. Then we arrived at the parking lot that was actually covered with packed snow and ice. To make a long story short, I got stuck, patronized by a jerk of a parking attendant, yelled at by an angry local and started shaking like a massive earthquake. My children started crying, I started crying and regretted my decision to do this on my own. Finally I got myself out of the parking lot and pulled over a few yards down the mountain and played there. The kids had a ball and I recovered from the trauma in time to enjoy some time body sledding down our own homemade path. Kids really do have an incredible ability to have fun, no matter what. They can make the best of any situation. Their resilience and capacity to get over something is incredible. When did I lose that? When does life become so stressful that I have to try to have fun. At what point in my life did the weight of everyday supersede seeing the joy in a pile of snow or the excitement of seeing a butterfly that lands carelessly on blade of grass. When did it happen?? Who stole this from me? I'm so thankful for the chance to recapture some of that while I watch my kids love life.
After a picnic lunch in the snow we headed back down the hill only to run right into the path of a falling rock. My choices were: swerve and hit the oncoming SUV or hit the rock. I hit the rock and found out from my mechanic I dented every plate and tank underneath my van from front to back. He said there is nothing to worry about, but the rock definitely left a mark to forever preserve the memory of when I tried, and failed, to do it all on my own.
The snow covered mountains in contrast to the blue sky called to us. Thinking most everyone else would be in school or at work, I decided to play the "we homeschool so we can," card and take a day off of school and take the kids to Mount Baldy to do some inner tubing down some powdery slopes. With wardrobe provisions by Kelly Hawkes and family, we were set to go. Traveling up the mountain, for the most part, was not too scary until we got really close to the top: the hair pins turns, with locals following close behind, signs that said "Chains required beyond this point," and three kids constantly asking questions I felt my blood pressure steadily rising. Then we arrived at the parking lot that was actually covered with packed snow and ice. To make a long story short, I got stuck, patronized by a jerk of a parking attendant, yelled at by an angry local and started shaking like a massive earthquake. My children started crying, I started crying and regretted my decision to do this on my own. Finally I got myself out of the parking lot and pulled over a few yards down the mountain and played there. The kids had a ball and I recovered from the trauma in time to enjoy some time body sledding down our own homemade path. Kids really do have an incredible ability to have fun, no matter what. They can make the best of any situation. Their resilience and capacity to get over something is incredible. When did I lose that? When does life become so stressful that I have to try to have fun. At what point in my life did the weight of everyday supersede seeing the joy in a pile of snow or the excitement of seeing a butterfly that lands carelessly on blade of grass. When did it happen?? Who stole this from me? I'm so thankful for the chance to recapture some of that while I watch my kids love life.
After a picnic lunch in the snow we headed back down the hill only to run right into the path of a falling rock. My choices were: swerve and hit the oncoming SUV or hit the rock. I hit the rock and found out from my mechanic I dented every plate and tank underneath my van from front to back. He said there is nothing to worry about, but the rock definitely left a mark to forever preserve the memory of when I tried, and failed, to do it all on my own.
2 comments:
That reminds me of the time we went up the mountain, only to get stuck on the ice ourselves--even though my husband insisted we would be fine without chains in our SUV (so see, the same things could have happened if your hubby had been along!). The children had a brilliant time, even though the air around our car smelled suspiciously of burnt rubber. When we got down the mountain, we had to replace our tread-free tires to the tune of $500+. But hey, we got some great scrapbook pages out of the trip!
"Home Alone" here again... Sounds like quite the adventure, but I hope you will look back and laugh soon. I loved looking at the pictures on Facebook, and am happy you survived! And the little angel that took picts of you and the other two, is a great photographer! See ya soon, Luv and Hugs!
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