It’s nearing the end of the summer and quickly the weather will cool. Although school may have started for some, let’s take time in this upcoming lovely fall weather to do things outside with our children.
Our dishes, our work will always be with us. But our children won’t. Not that we should neglect the duties, but neither should we neglect those precious people under our care!
Here is a lovely repost of Virginia and her family and what they decided to do to share some time with their family. Vin and Gin now have eight children, the oldest is eleven, the youngest is five months. (Hopefully she’s not reading this because both those ages are probably wrong.)
My Side of the Story:
Before I let Virginia have the floor in this post, I want to put my two cents in. Virginia (known by most as “Gin”) is my oldest. She has seen me through thick and thin. She has rocked babies and changed diapers since she was knee-high to a grasshopper! She now has a brood of her own….and what a brood! Rocking babies and changing diapers is where it’s at!
Gin has seven children, the oldest is nine….I think. Excuse my ignorance but I blinked a couple of times and now have twenty-one grandchildren! So I have a right to some ignorance.
Virginia has a little baby, her name is Juliette Leanne….she is around 4 or 5 months old. Gin has many sleepless nights lately and although she fools the world with her easy-to-come-by loveliness, I see the tired eyes beneath it all. She tells me she doesn’t dare sit down or she will melt into the chair. She has given up on sleep, she is resigned, actually I think she even embraces it….truly.
So this is why, when she called me a couple of weeks ago and said that she and her hubby were taking the kids camping for the night, I thought she was crazy! Why on earth would one want to inflict more pain on oneself! Camping means one thing to me…..No sleep!
Sigh…such is life. Once a mother, always a mother. When they have flown the nest, I can upbraid and express my utmost concern….but in the end I shake my head and throw up my hands……
Then I remember….oh, yes, that’s right. I was young once, too!
Gin’s Side of the Story:
On Mom’s site here, my sister, Theresa, related a sweet experience about picking blackberries and creating memories with her children. It has inspired me to write about our time camping a few days ago and making memories of our own……….
My husband,Vincent, is self-employed and works from sun-up to sun-down most of the year. Our boys are blessed to be able to be working beside him a good part of the time and for that I am truly grateful!
As of right now he is putting a pretty major addition on the side of our house. Things can get really crazy around here…mud, holes in the ground, hammers, saws, noise and the like!
So we decide it’s time to do something relaxing…..well sort of…..
We are going camping!
We did this last year a couple of times. I am now somewhat prepared for the hard bed, children covered in marshmallows and ketchup and the general lack of comfort.
My hubby never does things halfway. He spends time preparing our tents, getting the gas lights ready that hang from the tree, packing lovely food and drinks, rounding up things for the cooking fire/campfire and last, but not least, he reminds me to bring “Farmer Boy” to read to the kids.
It’s a fun and relaxing time for us – it’s so nice to just sit and have good conversation while the kiddos run around, throw knives, fish and inspect everything.
My brother and sister-in-law live on a beautiful piece of property, untouched by the crazy world. One feels so close to God there.
They have a camping spot that couldn’t be more ideal…..Sparkling pond that is full of fish, beautiful Blue Spruce making tall guardians for the picturesque clearing where we set up our tents.
Hubby is a great cook and before long he has succulent hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fix-ens for us.
My highlight is everyone listening to “Farmer Boy”, even Daddy, while making s’mores. So peaceful………….
The peacefulness is interrupted!
Little voices start demanding more marshmallows, “Mommy, look at this fish!” as they hold it three inches from my nose, or fighting ensues over who gets to sit by who.
It’s funny how as soon as the sun is setting our kiddos (who are never tired and can stay up until all hours of the night…every night) are yawning and hinting how tired they are.
They love the novelty of sleeping in a tent! Problem is…..they don’t sleep!
Literally, three hours later I have to threaten punishments with four little boys talking, laughing and wrestling in their small tent.
Finally, an exhausted Mommy can begin to contemplate sleeping with what seems like a hundred rocks under my bed!
Daddy is dozing beside me and three little ones scattered in our tent are shifting in their sleep….a foot in my face here and an elbow in my ribs here!
Both of us knew it before we started….we would give up a night’s sleep. Hubby had said to me before we decided to do this, “We don’t sleep anyway, Honey, so we might as well go camping!”
I know the day’s chores and work will be resumed, sleep-deprived or not, yet waking up to seven smiling faces and Daddy frying up bacon and eggs is so rewarding!
My heart is full even if I look like I’ve been run over by a truck! Kids don’t notice things like that, they just remember the good times and how much Mom and Dad enjoyed being with them!
I ask myself….is it worth the hassle, stress or being out of your comfort zone to create these memories with your children? Absolutely!
(Just give me a few days to recover!)
“The parent who loves his children and takes pleasure in training them in right conduct gives the best possible testimonial to marriage. On the other hand, the parent who constantly complains about his physical, financial or emotional burdens breaks down his youngster’s vision of marriage as a worthy state in life.” – Rev. George A. Kelly
amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit0”;
amzn_assoc_search_bar = “true”;
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “meaofgra-20”;
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”;
amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”;
amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”;
amzn_assoc_region = “US”;
amzn_assoc_title = “My Amazon Picks”;
amzn_assoc_linkid = “1a48767a9a4b9a0c444665fe84e60f09”;
amzn_assoc_asins = “1928832865,1887593330,0911094075,1928832172”;
//z-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/onejs?MarketPlace=US
Thank you for this. We are leaving Thursday to go on our annual Catholic family camping trip. It’s actually quite wonderful…17 families going this year! But I must admit I have been less than excited when I thought of all the work, dirt, and lack of sleep it would entail. But I know my children look forward to it every year. So I will put on a smile, change my attitude, and make sure to throw Farmer Boy in the bag 😉
Making wonderful memories! I hope you have a great trip!
It ought to be done each year but also time any time spent with family is irreplaceable and of the greatest import.
My idea of camping is boys outside in tent and girls in small camper with at least something that resembles a bed. ;P the mosquitos drive me nuts, as in, I had a bad reaction to them 🙁 but the outdoors are beautiful. Is that farmer boy, the one by Laura Ingalls? That is a good size book to read in one sitting, good job! Thank you for the reading, beautiful area too!
I think it’s great that you did that with so many little ones. My children have many wonderful and humorous memories of our camping days. I regret not starting when my oldest were young. Good for you. Keeps them attached to what is real. We still camp, but had to switch from rolling out of our tent and a deflated mattress to a camper. Happy camping in the future.