We got up early and drove through Ouray to Red Mountain Pass, parked, geared up and skinned up above treeline to ski 2 laps in the glorious Colorado sun. It was 5 degrees at our house and felt similar up on the pass but the day was remarkably windless and pleasant. It was my first official backcountry ski day, navigating variable snow conditions and powser turns. First lap I did great - skinned strong, sandwiched and hot teaed at the top, and although it was challenging skiing, I pulled it off! JC was super thrilled with how I handled it, which was fun for me.
Second lap skinning up I started to feel tired and by the time we were skiing down for the second time I realized my legs were pretty depleted. I had a full-on flailfest on the second descent, but managed to get myself back to the car with high spirits, mainly because I had proved with the first round of skiing that I do, in fact, possess the skills to skin and ski in those conditions, I just need to build up some more strength.
All that warm fuzzy stuff aside, here is Morning Rant #1: I don't understand why some adults try to introduce and cultivate adult activities into children's lives. I see this happen fairly frequently, where children are given adult information or adult activities and the kids are completely unable to grasp what they are told or offered to do - it is extremely confusing to them.
I think it is ok for kids to have to wait for things, most things, in fact. And that is the job of the parent, to decide when the child is ready for the next "level" of life. Where does this come from? Are people afraid their kids will miss out on something? If so, aren't they not really missing out, but just waiting until the time when they can fully appreciate and internalize it? Does it come from people who feel that being an adult is so great, they can't wait to share things with their kids so they can experience the joys of being independent? What is the hurry?
I personally think it is not only really challenging to be a human being, but it is especially challenging to be a kid. Navigating kid stuff is hard, so why do we want to add in adult stuff on top of it? Just because your kid wants to do something doesn't mean they can, or they should.
Apparently this newer generation of kids, maybe the last generation too, has a different relationshio with their parents, one that is more friend-based. Perhaps adults, in their desire or need to be liked by their (or anyone's) kids, have blurred the line between the adult's world and the children's world. Maybe some of us can't even see the difference.
Call me old-fashioned, call me a newbie step-parent, call me whatever, all I know is that you are setting kids up for disappointment and frustration in these scenarios. Waiting for something and earning something comes with a great reward: the sense of timeliness and satisfaction, on both the adult's and the child's part. Why not share that experience together?
Thanks for listening, that one had been brewing for some time now.
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