Proof is in the Pudding

Fred took the older boys skiing one day last week. We have both been wanting to have the kids ski for a looooong time now. In fact every winter since we moved here ( about 7 give or take) we talk about it. We think it's important to get all those fun things in for them in case at some later point they want to come back and tell us what terrible parents we were. It has nothing to do with them experiencing the good things in life, and everything to do with us not wanting to feel guilty later. 

Well, okay, maybe that's not totally accurate.

I am laughing a little now, but any parent who has a brood of kids  ( or a very small pocketbook) will tell you the same thing. You want your kids to be able to experience all the fun stuff, but really running a BIG family can be difficult and take a good deal of planning. You just can't do everything. Even if you'd like to. So you hit what you can, when you can - and hope and pray most of the important stuff gets covered. But the proof is in the pudding and I am sure soon enough we will be hearing from our adult children just in fact where we screwed up. I'd like to believe it was as simple as not getting skiing in, but deep down I really know I was never given an instruction manual when I gave birth to my children and have been searching for it ever since.

The boys have never asked us to go skiing, but Fred was an avid skier when he was a kid, and I went on a few trips myself that were a blast so its something we both wanted for the teenagers. The slopes 10 minutes from our house offered a few home school days where tickets and rentals were discounted so we decided to take advantage of them. Twice this season Fred brought Andrew, Peter, and John-Paul for the entire day. They came home absolutely glowing. I am happy we managed to work in a few ski trips for the kids. Hopefully it will lessen their therapy bills a few years from now.