A couple of weeks ago we took our kids skiing. It’s a bit of a chore really. Daddy-o and I basically spent the morning bickering, snapping and barking orders – at each other and at the kids. Trying to get five kids on the slopes while juggling a toddler is no easy feat.
Once everyone was on the hills and skiing happily off into the sunset came my sigh of relief and the question I occasionally ask myself: is it worth it?
Of course the answer is yes, for a couple of reasons. Clearly, I want my kids to be outdoors, get exercise, learn new skills and have fun. I also don’t want them to be penalized too gravely for being in a big family. My feeling is if I had two kids I’d take them skiing, so why not six? Because of that, the moments of frustration and hard work are worth it. When they ski up to me at the end of the day with their pink cheeks, excitedly reporting which hills they conquered – yeah, once again, worth it.
But it’s also worth it for me because the thought of sitting at home and taking the “easy” approach is enough to put me to sleep. When people see me out and about with my gang, they often ask “Isn’t it easier to just stay home?” The fact is, I need to get out of the house. Packing up my crew with a picnic and heading out for the day is so much easier for me than staying in all day.
Last week I picked up my son from an activity and ran into another mom there who was picking up her son. She had her two-month-old daughter with her. I noted how odd it was that I missed her at other pick-ups and that it was the first time I’d met the baby. Apparently it was not weird at all, since that was the FIRST TIME she had left the house. That baby somehow put that mother on house arrest for two months! Why? Because it was too hard to pack up the baby in the cold weather.
Having a two month lock-in would be enough to put me completely over the edge. My babes get carted around from the moment they are extracted from my body.
What is your capacity for “too hard”? Do you hibernate with your wee peeps or do you face the big wide world as a means of escaping those four walls. When is it “worth it” to you?
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