Last updated on September 30th, 2021 at 10:13 am
The first time we took our kids camping we ended up all sleeping on the same queen sized air mattress; cramped, cold and hating life. Our boys refused to let us split up and divide the kids equally between the tent’s two bedrooms, and the assortment of sleeping bags that we brought to unzip and use as blankets wouldn’t stay put. We live in Colorado at an elevation of 5,280 feet in the city, so if you want to go camping you have to go up a few thousand feet to get out of town. Even though it was 90 degrees in town we had to pack for all weather eventualities in the mountains, which makes for a very full car. We ended up heading home a day early because the temperature dropped a good 20 degrees and ominous dark clouds started to roll in. We just made it off the single-lane dirt road out of the campground when it started hailing…in July.
We have since learned to choose our elevation and our sleeping bags more wisely. We ordered two zero-degree rated, queen sized sleeping bags from Amazon (worth every penny) and last week we drove 4 hours out of state to Wyoming in order to camp at 4,700 feet. For those of you at sea level that still seems high, but I assure you that it made all the difference. It never dropped to less than 50 degrees at night and while we did have afternoon rain and wind storms, there was no hail, snow or other unpleasant phenomenon.
One of my boys screamed like he was being tortured the first night of our very first camping trip. He is not a huge fan of major change and really, really did not want to sleep in the tent with us. The pounding rain outside didn’t help matters. He wanted his bed, in his room, with his stuff. It was awful. I am sure the entire mountain heard his screams (at least it scared away any bears.) Even after everyone fell asleep I woke up every hour on the hour worried that the kids were cold (which they were), and covered them back up with blankets. It was so stressful for us that we thought about taking camping off the table completely; we were about to give up then and there. However, I decided to stick with it and with each subsequent trip the nights became easier. Our last trip he threw a four-minute fit, carried his blanket to the air mattress and went to sleep. I know that when we go next summer that there will most likely be no fit at all. Because we stuck with it and didn’t give up, we have all of those amazing daytime memories.
We have learned that meals can be difficult. Our 5 year old will eat anything without complaint, but our almost 3 year-old twins have been known to go to bed without dinner while camping. When you pack your car you have a limited amount of room. You don’t have the luxury of packing multiple meal choices for your kids. One of the twins refuses to eat hot dogs, one doesn’t like eggs, etc. We have tried to pack items that we think that they will like, but predicting the mood of a toddler is like playing the lottery; odds are that you are never going to make the right prediction. We don’t make separate meals at home for picky eaters so we refuse to do so while camping. I bought an awesome grilled cheese iron that roasts the tastiest grilled cheese which is always a huge hit. We use a bottle of spray butter instead of lugging along sticks or spreadable containers. We learned later on to bring pre-made things like macaroni and cheese, grilled chicken or grilled pork chops to reheat on the fire. We have found that reheating things prepared at home can satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
Sometimes I feel like all we are doing is looking forward to the future when things will be easier, when they will sleep in their own sleeping bags, or be able to hike more than a mile without needing to be carried. For the day when they won’t wake up at 5:00 am when the sun comes up, or need constant vigilant surveillance to keep them out of major trouble. But then there are the good moments; the amazing moments really. When they are dancing around with melted marshmallows on their faces yelling, “Deeeeeeeeeeewicious!!!” When you wake up after a fitful night short on sleep, cramped in a small tent, to see one of your twinners smile wide when they see you open your eyes. The building sand castles, forest treasure hunts, and seeing your kids actually getting along and playing nicely. Camping with young children is a series of highs and lows. I will take those lows if I also get those amazingly memorable and warm fuzzy-worthy highs.
Destiny Effertz is a stay at home mom to 3 boys under 5. Prior to having children she worked as a paralegal in a large civil litigation firm. Now she uses those research and organizational skills formulating new pie recipes and planning family vacations. To read more articles by Destiny on Twiniversity, click here.
