We hadn't gone far when a snaked slithered out from under a rock -- which sent my youngest into hysterics. He slithered away & she declared that she wasn't going any farther - "it's too scary." I told her “you are going to have to be brave - Mommy will not let anything hurt you” and she said "I can't be brave - I'm scared" So I told her what I have told the other 3 on numerous occasions - "It's not brave unless you are scared - bravery is feeling scared and doing it anyway" So up she went - complaining - but climbing.
We were about half way up when one of the kids noticed a very small hole in my husband’s shorts by his back pocket -- "Oh well can't do anything about it now- it's just a little hole" so he untucked his shirt and continued to climb. Like so many things in our lives -- it didn't stay little for long. The kids had so much fun measuring the passing of time by the hole in Daddy's shorts. By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain -- the pocket was almost completely off -- I'm trying to show them the beauty of God's creation & what are they going to remember -- Daddy has bright red undies J. Oh well.
They were really proud of themselves when it was over & they had such a sense of accomplishment.
Some things I learned from the climb:
* Climbing up the mountain isn't as difficult as coming down.
* Children who start out complaining about a task - want to do it again when it's over
* And -- my dog is part billy goat -- seriously I never would have thought she could scale those rocks so quickly!
Mountain climbing provided my kids with a sense that they could conquer just about anything -- I definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance. I’m sure I will be using the phrase “sure you can – you can even climb a mountain” in the future.
I hope you are getting to the tops of your mountains this week.
Dancing on the mountain tops,
Amy
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