This Nature Thing Is B.S.

Have you all seen that new REI commercial with the adorable family camping in the woods? Yah. It's crap. I'm the official judge on that. I've decided. For the record, I've TRIED so hard to be the good mom. The involved mom, teaching kids life leasons and how to be good. And I think now it's all crap. Or all about crap anyway.

I get those parent magazines. The ones that talk about helicopter parenting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent and leaving your kids alone so they can be leaders, and independent, and show the world a thing or two. And by the way, it's GOOD if they're bored, and if you turn off the t.v. to let them get creative. (CRAP)!!!

So I took the boys on a naturey bike ride. Mads was with a girlfriend all day yesterday, so I figure, 'mommy, brothers bonding. sweet'. We rode a few miles and hiked on the forest preserve paths around our area. And my boys appreciated nature on a wholly unexpected level. They YELLED through the foresty trails looking for animal crap, and bounty hunter hideouts. Oh, we got back to nature all right, fighting to find the turds on the trail and having me trying to calmly explain that there are probably no bounty hunters hiding in this forest looking for them.

When I pointed out cool birds, Nate yelled, "I want to kill that bird". When they found sticks they would throw them into the grass trying to spear potential snakes. And I was asked more than once "how do you KNOW what poison Ivy does if you've never touched it ma? Maybe we should try it out?" Sure, guys. Test out the theory, and then get back to me.

Did I have any teachable moments? Maybe it was when the man hiking warned us of the floating 'pods' or plastic bridge in the marsh, saying if we went on it we'd get wet. So of course we had to go on it. And it was ABSOLUTELY hilarious that mommy got her feet soaked and smelled like a marsh, so I guess there was a teachable moment in there somewhere. Like how to run like hell through a floating marsh bridge.

And I know they will never look back and say "our mom did cool shit with us." No, it's going to be all about Daddy and sports. Sigh.....

Crap.