What about the kids?/Ode to the Niñim

We could not have made our Camino de Santa Barbara without the help and support of our children. They were our biggest cheerleaders. And this, in spite of the fact that Covid scuppered their plans for the summer, as well as ours--goodbye to fun times with grandparents and camp activities; hello to more of isolating at home. I was blown away by their enthusiasm for and with us! What a gift.

We left them for eight walking days of various lengths. Each of our Camino days looked--for them-- like a modified version of a regular Saturday:

-Saturday morning "cartoons" from 7-9

-tasty breakfast

-An hour outside playing

-various chores and household helps

-lunch  & lunch cleanup

-afternoon reading/movie time

They kept the house reasonably tidy, the laundry folded, and the shenanigans to a minimum on the days we were away. No ER visits or malnutrition. On Day 2,  one of them accidentally upgraded our Hulu subscription by $50/month, but we were able to quickly resolve that. I've already mentioned how N. colluded with a neighbor to arrange a celebratory tapas feast on our first day. They were amazing.  

On our "rest days" we tried not to do much work but to be available. Actually the main reason we took "rest days" was in order to not abandon them for too long at once, and to be around for hanging out.

                                    

         

We also took some beach trips and had some movie nights. It's been a treat to rewatch Foyle's War, this time with the kids. Also, being home half of the time meant we could enforce a little structure so that things didn't get too out of hand. At one point on a rest day, C. accidentally called me and then immediately hung up early in the morning. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and texted:

He followed up with this:

Who's busted now? On a hiking day, we would have already headed out by this point. I might have missed this excellent opportunity to let him take me down a notch.

Besides holding things together throughout the Camino, the kids planned an excellent welcome home at the end. There were signs and cards by them, along with balloons and flowers delivered by others during the day. There was another whole party after the one at the Mission!

C built a run-through for me through the doorway: the plan was for me to run through and break it like at the start of high school football games.

                                    

In case it isn't clear: That's me, plus "my" biceps=The Rock crying. 

                            

Ridiculously endearing. Obviously I ran gently through so as to not tear it up. W. also printed/painted a large welcoming sign:

Thank you, Neighbors

Thank you, padres

Sweet notes from the kids

 It's said that absence makes the heart grow fonder; in general I'm not sure that's worth the sadness the absence usually provokes. It is fair to say, though, that the combination of being away from the kids for extended periods combined with their awesomesauce attitudes throughout our Camino brings with it some deep affection. As a parent I'm used to playing cheerleader for our kids and trying to make things work out for them: it was an amazing and growing experience for us all to have all of that love and support flowing the other direction, too. So many thanks to the Niñim! Our camino was different and better because of the ways they were able to participate. ♡