Over the weekend we decided to finally camp indoors. Kids have been looking forward to this day when we would turn the A/C on full blast, set up beds on the floor and wear warm pajamas while pretending we’re in the mountains. Since I’m such an extra Mom, I figured a virtual bonfire with matching cricket sounds in the background and some S’mores will add up to the whole experience. It was a very exciting and pretty idea until the adults—Mike and I— started complaining.
We complained about how hard it was to move around the living room because of all the “camping” stuff, how annoying Miggy was because he kept on jumping and running, how the S’mores' crumbs were going everywhere, how uncomfortable the beds were. At one point, Mike even said “the idea is good but in reality, this is terrible!”
Then I noticed our 11-year-old, RyRy, hid under her blanket and kept still for a while. I asked her what’s wrong but she didn’t budge. I shook her to the point she could no longer be in peace under the covers and immediately expressed how we were ruining this “camping trip” because we were angry and we kept complaining.
Oops! How insensitive of us, right?!
Immediately, we apologized to the kids, asked for their forgiveness and decided for this “camping trip” to continue as it should.
What did we learn here?
First of all, we learned we’re not very good campers and we’ll probably get in each other’s necks if we were to do a real one! Next is that we should be extra careful how we talk in front of the kids. We always get disappointed with RyRy every time she complains but here we are, grumbling like there’s no tomorrow! Lastly, and as Mike told the kids, sometimes we need to do things beyond our comfort zones to make others happy.
No matter how tired we were that day, we pushed with our “camping” plans because we know how much the kids have been preparing for this. Mike even woke up with a splitting headache the next day that I told him to go and catch some more sleep in our bedroom. You do unthinkable things for the people you love. And when you do, they will never forget it.
True enough, when we sat together for breakfast in the morning, everyone seemed to have a fun story to share. Miggy even thanked me for setting this up and asked if we can do it again.
Will we ever do this again? Probably not! We decided if ever we will go camping, like the real one, we’d probably bring with us people who have actual real world experience.
Have you been on camping trip? How was the experience for you and your family like? We’d love to hear it by leaving a comment below or send us an using the contact form.