A Day Off Work Jul 16th, 2011

Well, I didn't techncially play hookie. I took the day off. But it felt like it, because I was not home with a sick child or even home sick myself. I was out playing!

In a world with two working parents, when summer arrives you have to find care for your kids for three months.  Well, the thought of how much money you save (with them not being in daycare annually) becomes two sheets of paper in the wind, as you spend a fortune on summer camps.  However, because we are a dual working parent home, the quality time our kids have with us is very important. So this year, we decided that each parent would take a few days off in the summer to spend the day with each of them.

Thursday I took my 7 year old son to the U.S. National Whitewater Center.  I had him view the aerial obstacle courses online prior to going to make sure he was "IN" for the adventure. He was extremely excited.  First, we hit the Adventure Course.  He was all smiles until his first step down onto the "rope of death" as he called it.   His face turned from excitement to horror.  His eyes with tears hanging in the corner, fighting for them not to slide down his cheek.  I stuck beside him with a smile on my face, encouraging him and talking him through it.  When he completed the course, he said he was done.  I looked at him and said "oh no your are not...you are not giving up that easy mister." 

So we moved on to Canyon Crossing which has a zip line at the end.  I knew if I could get him to that point, his mindset would change.   He had a complete mental transformation on the next course.  He slid off the rope once and discovered that being clipped in was, in fact, safe.  After that, he was golden.  He loved the zip line and begged to go do all of them again.   We even ended the day with a free fall jump, in which he did not hesitate before walking off the edge of the 46 foot tower.  I however, did hesitate.

At the end of the day, I asked him what he thought and he said "AAAAWESOME!!!"  And when I asked him what his favorite part of the day was,  he said "well, I think the best part was that I got to spend the day with you mom."   Now that brought tears to my eyes!