Let’s face it there are a lot of chores to do before, during and after a camping trip. The kids get conscripted to do some but the main load of the work (packing, setting up, cooking, driving, overall logistics, etc.…) is left to the parents. So what’s in it for us? Why do we do this year after year?

Well there are the obvious health benefits, fresh air, socializing with friends, exercise, eating like a king (food always tastes better outside for some reason).

I’m leaving out the restful sleep part due to a continual deflating mattress situation….you might think I would have figured this one out after the 1^st year, but no,  it’s Fergy in a hot dog bun…which I do not relish! See what I did there?

Now….that the tent is dried out and repacked, the sleeping bags are aired out, the cooking, cleaning and bug spray products are all put back in the box, I’m thinking over the cost/benefit analysis of the whole camping excursion. Not speaking for every parent I have a short list of things I feel most grateful for during our camping trip.  There is no cell service, cell phones, lap tops, Facebook, Snap-chat…or any other social interaction other than each other for the kids.  That to me is a miracle in our society today.  I challenge anyone to walk the street, check out a school bus stop or any other public place to find a kid without their face glued to their cell phone.

Camping gives them a chance to interact person to person, playing instead of texting with each other.  Funny thing ….laughter breaks out a lot when kids pay attention to one another and not their devices.  Now I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t say that parents are also disciples of the almighty cell phone as well.  But we are kids too (albeit somewhat older but not necessarily more mature) and just like our kids we follow the same patterns of behavior and get our social on during camping trips also.  See Tucker’s cool corner below;

As a parent,  I really enjoyed watching the kids and the dogs have fun in the sun and the rain which we had plenty of.  I loved that they had to paddle 6+ miles on their own or together with another kid.

They ate like starving Bengal tigers, then planted themselves down in front of the campfire exhausted from a none stop day of playing.  As the evening grew dark their eyes drooped and getting them into their sleeping bags was not an issue.
It’s events like this where kids learn to interact with adults, each other, animals and the environment.  They do what comes natural in non traditional settings…they look out for one another, encourage each other and generally play nice.  That to me is what’s in it for us as parents…  What more can we ask for?  I suppose we could have the kids take charge and the parents spend time playing.   Then instead of fresh perked coffee, fluffy cinnamon pancakes, sausage, bacon, mixed fruit, OJ, etc. ….the kids would be serving Lucky Charms for breakfast, Coco Puffs for lunch and Oreo O’s for dinner ….with a side of bacon of course…  That’s what’s in it for us.  On to next year…