Just a few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who had a hellish experience when she took her son and daughter camping. I was like, “Well it can’t be that bad.” She tried her best to convince me it can’t be done.
And I really love a good challenge. Guess what I did next?
He had his doubts, but he knows I’m not one to back down, so in the end he gave in. The very same weekend we packed our bags and got ready for an adventure of a lifetime.
Don’t think I made this decision because of pride. Both my husband and I, love and appreciate nature. We hope to pass on that love to our child.
This was the first step in doing it. If you’re planning a similar endeavor, take it from me (spoiler alert: we had a perfect one), prepare everything at least a day early.
You must remember even the slightest thing or it could lead to a camping disaster. Let me paraphrase a quote from Spiderman here (my boys love superheroes, so I got infected with that bug), “With great toddler camping, comes great responsibility.”
You must think about every possible scenario: what if it rains, what if he hurts himself, what if he’s allergic to some bug bite, etc. Be prepared, as you would be for a zombie apocalypse.
We brought sleeping bags, pillows, a cooler, stuffed animals and other toys, bedtime items (that one special blanket and a book of stories I read to him every night), a ball, flashlights, a broom to sweep the tent (oh speaking of), rope for hanging wet clothes, personal hygiene stuff, food preparation tools, chairs, cell phone and charger, bandages, disinfectants, iodine, clothes, mosquito spray… basically everything we could think of.
I almost forgot, the one thing we could never make this camping trip successful without – advanced car audio accessories. Our boy adores watching cartoons and listening to songs, so we had to make it happen.
We also had to think about the food. We are a family of vegetarians, so we packed fresh vegetables and fruits for the first day, but we had to bring refrigerated food and some dry food too.
After thorough preparation, the adventure started. It was seven days of pure wonder. Our son fell in love with nature. He didn’t have a still moment – he was always running around, exploring, jumping and engaging in the exhausting activities young boys do.
The benefits of it was he started a habit of going to “bed” earlier than usual, because he was so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open, allowing my husband and I to have some time for ourselves. If you don’t already know when you have a toddler, it’s a little hard to find some private moments.
In the seven days of camping, we didn’t have any incidents. We had one rainy day, where we spent it by listening to music, reading fairy tales, playing make believe and other “rainy day activities.” My son tripped and fell more times than I can remember, but it happens when you are outdoors. My son stayed under own watchful eyes so there were no serious injuries.
After a week, we came home, closer than ever.
I think camping is a great family bonding activity. As a Boy Scout, I thoroughly enjoyed the times out in the Nebraska wilderness. Unfortunately, my “camping” experience in the military totally turned me off to thought of living in the outdoors ever again. Please share your most memorable camping experience.
