MOM’ S CORNER
MAY 2018
FAMILY LIVING
Page 9
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MOM’ S CORNER
FAMILY THAT CAMPS TOGETHER
My husband and I began our child rearing days early in life. We met and married all before I turned 20. He had custody of our amazing oldest daughter and shortly after we added a son and daughter to the family. Our financial situation was always a little tight since I had decided to stay home with the children. My husband worked up to 3 different jobs at once to make ends meet. We did not have a lot, but we always had fun!
As soon as summer vacation from school began, the kids were anticipating what type of adventures we would have. For the first week or so, I could usually bank on the kiddos lounging about, sleeping in, catching up on TV, and having outside playtime at home. While this was generally a restful time, the natives began to get restless a few weeks in. They wanted to go on a summer vacation.
I can remember wondering what we could do on our meager budget. How could we have a fun and memory filled time with less funding? The answer we came up with year after year was primitive camping. The smell of the forest, the wind in the trees, and the sound of a river lulling us to sleep were some of our favorite things. We quickly discovered that a family that camps together stays together. Camping provided such an amazing opportunity to problem solve as a team. There were many years my husband did not get home until late Friday night. We would drive up that night and pitch our tent in the dark so we could spend as much time together as possible. The kids would be exhausted and cranky. Sometimes the flashlight wouldn’ t work or we would forget batteries, but we always got through it. The life lessons we learned were worth every moment of frustration. We learned how to love and honor each other through difficulties. Let’ s face it, we were in the woods and had nowhere to run from each other.
Many of our trips were spent outside of Helen, Ga., in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Here is a fun fact: it is free to camp in most national forests across the U. S. Helen was great because we could camp for free, bring our own food and supplies from home, and take a tubing trip down the river for a mere $ 3.00 each. Year after year, we would spend our time working together to set up camp, cook our meals, and enjoy just being
together.
Now, even though we can afford a hotel stay and airfare, we choose camping. We choose camping so much so that we bring a ton of“ family” on our trips. We take our entire family, the student body from AWAKE Coffee Co and now The Metro Times’ team with us each summer.
As I said,“ A family that camps together stays together.” Camping together has become our most favorite adventure. Consider family camping today. Pinterest has a ton of great ideas!
Noelle Cosby A Happy Camper