TRUE CAMPFIRE STORY #13

TALE OF THE CURIOUS TOTS

Our kids have been camping since they were very, very young; Ty hiking the falls of Yosemite when he was -2 months old;


Ty -2 Months Old


Remy braving the Grand Canyon, Tetons, and Yellowstone when she was 3 months old.


Remy 3 Months Old

Early in their lives, they learned the intricacies of camping;


Remy 3

not falling into the campfire, drinking bugs, burning to a glowing red, stepping

; learning rock hopping a stream, catching fish and cleaning fish,


Ty's First Brookie


Remy's Rainbows

following a trail,


Ty 7 - Wilderness Hike

 counting shooting stars, and fighting mosquitos and biting flies. Yes, they were champions of the forest; little denizens from "Lord of the Flies".

Still, they were children. They wouldn't eat their veggies, they tried to eat all the candy and drink all the sodas the first day. They whined and fought with each other, and with us, especially at bedtime. It was just like being at home! We were exasperated!!

I can't recall exactly what their ages were when we found the perfect solution, but they were still very young; probably about 5 and 8. Now, you may say that there is no solution, or you may be dumbstruck that you never found the solution, but it's a 'True Story'.

Our clever idea was to quit fighting them; 'No More Rules'.

When we got to camp we sprang our little trap on them. Once we had our camp set up, we told them of the new rule; no rules. They were dumbfounded! "Watcha mean?", one of them whined. "Well", I explained, "you get up when you want, eat and drink what you want, wash when you want, and go to bed when you want." They looked at each other quizzically, and then they smiled, running off into the woods to the sound of their 'yippees'. Mom and Dad were a little concerned, but we knew that, being God-like creatures to these mere mortals, we could always return to the old law; 'Rules'.

It all seemed so natural as one of them asked if they could have some candy, I replied, "Sure, you don't have to ask. Have all you want, but we'll be here for 5 days, so you'll have to decide when you want to run out." The same response came when they asked for a soda, or chips.

When dinner time approached, I called the kids to let them know it was ready, if they wanted to eat now. They both came right away??? Ty sat at the table, excused himself, saying, "I think I'd better wash my hands." (Author's note: Previously, he had never washed his hands, unless he was screamed at!) Remy went into the soda-laden ice chest to get a drink and came out with fruit juice; this was getting curious. They both ate most of their meals, including their veggies; hmmmm.

Later that evening, around the campfire, we had our usual tales, accented with

flaming marshmallows. One of them asked when would they have to go to bed. They were told, "Whenever you want to." Soon, to the accompaniment of many yawns, one of them announced their being tired and was soon off to bed; the other followed shortly. We were amazed! It was only 9 o'clock. We smiled at each other; hmmmm?

In the morning, as we were cooking breakfast, both of the little darlings got up, took their towels, soap, and toothbrushes, and returned spotless. After breakfast, they applied their sun screens and bug repellents and went on their daily adventures. We were at peace. We'd lounge around our campsite and decide on our days activities.


Peace at Lower Salmon Lake
 

From our campsite at Burnside Lake we saw the beautiful peaks in the distance.


From our Burnside Lake camping spot

We decided to see what it was like from the top of one of the peaks.


Mountain Top

We took a 12 shot panorama photo of the of the entire horizon!

Forever after, on hundreds of trips, this was the rule; 'No Rules'. If one of us accidentally told them what to do, we were quickly reminded of the rule! As we'd drive through the hot summer central valley of California, with the windows down, singing along with the John Denver tapes, the kids would add a new lyric to the songs of "Rocky Mountain High" or "Grandma's Feather Bed"; 'No Rules', La la la; 'No Rules, La la la!

All four of us smiled!

Copyright 2004, Carport's True Stories
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