by Kim Leady
As some of you may know, I have decided to take my family out into the wilds of Minnesota to do a little canoeing and camping in the Voyageurs National Park. Since that fateful morning when I announced this idea to my two teenage sons and husband, my family has been contributing their extra change and even paper money every now and then into a jug. I have taped pictures to the jug hoping it would encourage those walking past it to cough up the change in their pockets.
It was agreed the money would go towards equipment and supplies for our adventure – The Leady Eco-Challenge.
Two weeks ago, our youngest and the banker of our clan, announced we had enough money in the jug to go shopping for the tents. All right, shopping! What are we waiting for! Wait, did he say TENTS? Why did we need more than one tent? All four of us had always slept in one tent.
Of course, our first tent was affectionately called the canvas palace because of the many rooms it had – three, and it took a small pack mule to haul it in, but hey, we were all under the same leaking roof.
My husband, the smart man that he is, quickly jumped on this idea of separate tents and said, “ Hey boys, I think that’s a great idea.”
Staring at him in horror, I could see the clogs working in his head. Being married to someone for many years has some advantages; one is knowing what the other is thinking, even if they don’t say it aloud. And I knew what he was thinking. ‘Boys in one tent, and I and the little woman in another…hey this could work.’
This was not going well. So, before another word could be uttered, I barked, “I don’t think so!” And glared at my husband, hands on my hips, to let him know if he said one more word, just one more, he wouldn't want to be in the same state with me, let alone share the tiny space of a tent with me.
Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to spend some time with my husband alone in a tent, just to see what it's like, since this has never happened before. But this fantasy would have to wait. And I'm sure once my husband took a cold shower, he too would agree bear country was not the time or place to have our children in one tent, while we're snuggled up in another. NO WAY!
Then the situation turned from bad to worse…much worse in my opinion. My oldest decided it was time for a little clarification. You see, the boys had no intention on sleeping together in one tent. No, No, it seems they didn't think sharing a tent was manly enough. What was I thinking? No, they each wanted their OWN tent. Now, if my math is correct, we just went from buying and hauling one tent, to buying and packing three tents. This was just getting better and better.
However, I must admit, this new development was not sitting well with their father…apparently their idea had the effect of a cold shower.
While he explained the downsides to having separate tents, our youngest piped in to inform the family committee that there was plenty of money for three tents. This brought a smile to our oldest son's face.
Looking serious as a heart attack, our oldest stood up and said, "Dad, Mom, I think we are both old enough for this. Heck, in two years I'll be in college, off on my own, and brother here will be driving soon. If you think about it, I'm sure you'll see we're old enough to handle a little bear. Besides, if we do have a bear problem, he can't possibly attack all three tents at once. And, oh yeah, whoever is not on the bear's menu can come to the rescue the poor sucker being mauled."
Out of the mouths of babes.
I looked at my husband and then we looked at our sons, and said, "By yourselves, I don't think so!"
Kim
