Breathe Magazine

My family and I love to be outdoors!  When it rains, we put on rain boots and play in the puddles.  When it snows, we get to the mountains and ski.  And, when it’s 105 degrees in the summer, we get in the water.  Any activity that involves sweat for both parents and kids is a good thing in our book.  Since we live in Southern California, the opportunities to ski are few.  In fact, weekends are usually a bad time to ski here because everyone in the entire Los Angeles basin (it seems) wants to ski, too…so, we wait for a “snow day” or a weekday, and take them skiing!

My boys are now 6 and 3.  And, we have been skiing since Benjamin was 3 months old!  At that point, I simply carried him in my baby carrier and walked with snow shoes.  Since then, we’ve  skied every year at least once.  Our local mountains offers a great first experience into the world of Nordic Skiing with 10 kilometers of groomed trails and rentals for the whole family!  Our entire family skied for $60 for a half day!!  This is one of the main reasons I love to cross country ski– it is affordable and offers fantastic opportunities to burn major calories in a short amount of time!

The following are some things I’ve learned skiing with my kids:

1.  Check your needs/wants/desires into the shoe racks and leave them there.  This is no place to say, “I’d really like an hour of solo skiing!” Ha.  Nope.  We are doing it with the kids for the kids and if mom and dad get a “workout” in, then great, if not, great too.

2.   Be Ultra Positive.

3.  Keep it Short.  Plan on skiing for one hour with the kids or less.  Take lots of breaks and carry water.

4.   Be Appropriately Dressed.  Waterproof essential.  On our side of the mountains, we need less warm gear than you’d think.  Kids are wearing ski pants from Target and although they do not keep them dry- they are just fine for the time we are out.  (Extra clothing also a must!)

5.  Build time into your day for them to just play in the snow and have snacks.  This is a great opportunity for the parents to take turns for a quick solo ski.

6.  Be prepared for frustrations and have an alternate plan.  Learn ways to distract your children when they are frustrated to keep them going.  This is harder than it sounds- but- just keep changing the subject until their minds are ready to try again.

7. Get creative in helping them!  I taught myself how to snowplow with my toddler between my legs to get him down a hill.  It’s hard on the legs, but, he was happy.

8. Divide and Conquer!  One parent per kid or keep the older ones together and one parent goes with the younger one.

Any other parents out there with children who ski?  Tips you’d like to share?