Camping Traditions

My favorite part of camping with my family was waking up in the morning and hearing my parents talking while fixing breakfast for us.  It was usually really cold out so I'd stay snuggled into my sleeping bag and just listen for a while. It was such a secure feeling knowing they were close by fixing food for us.

It was quite a let down when we took our own kids camping to realize that we had to be the adults and be the one to get out of that warm sleeping bag to fix breakfast (after a night of not much sleep of course).  We had to go out and shiver until we got a good fire going and then find all the ingredients to feed hungry children while they stayed warm in the their sleeping bags.  I assume they all felt nice and secure and loved while all this was going on.  On the other hand, they probably just slept right through it.

Camping is a funny tradition.  We love it as kids so we want to give that same experience to our own children but for parents of young children the whole thing is not really that enjoyable.  You spend all night trying to keep the little ones warm and then spend the day trying to keep them warm, fed, alive and not lost.  And yet, because of those great memories from childhood, we keep the tradition going.  Thank goodness, because camping with children and their children is wonderful!