Hot Off The Presses: Column #3

I just realized that I never posted my February column for Kickapoo Free Press. Better late than never. Here it is:

Postcards from the Road

Adjusting to Life on the Road

When we were planning our cross country RV trip, I knew that life on the road would be a big adjustment for our whole family. In particular, I was interested to see how the kids would adjust. I was worried they would have trouble adapting to their new life. As it turned out, I shouldn’t have been worried.

From the time we left home, the kids have adjusted to life on the road without missing a beat. As we were heading south out of Wisconsin and through Illinois, the whole family settled into their new routine. Our twelve year-old, Shelby took over the front passenger seat, put her feet up on the dash, and started learning to play her guitar. Louis, our eight year-old son, settled into the seat behind Shelby and passed the time watching DVDs and playing video games. From the start, the kids were comfortable with their new lives.

At the end of our first day on the road when we stopped to sleep at a truck stop, the kids were excited to try out their new beds. Shelby slept on the convertible couch and Louis slept on the dinette which converted into a bed. The kids helped get their beds ready and then slept well until morning. By contrast, I tossed and turned for most of night.

At the campground in Tennessee, both kids claimed the territory where they would do their school work. They took to homeschooling like they had been doing it for years. Kim found the teaching to be a bit more work than expected at first, but enjoyed the one on one time with the kids. When their school work was finished, the kids went outside and rode their bikes around the campground as if they were back home in their own driveway.

Driving through Alabama, they resumed their positions in the RV and shared their new favorite food, Clementines, reportedly much tastier than Tangerines. While I worried about the traffic and making the next turn, the kids played games and ate snacks.

I really shouldn’t have been surprised by how well the kids adapted to life on the road. When I look back on my own childhood, I was the same way. It wasn’t until I hit my teens that I started to worry about things that never happened. In adulthood, I perfected that talent.

Author Richard Carlson made a career out of telling people not to sweat the small stuff. His message is one that adults need to hear and heed, but it’s one that is lost on most kids. Kids are blessed with an innate sense that everything is going to work out fine. They don’t need stress-relieving books and reassurance. As a parent, I sometimes wish that my kids weren’t so fearless, especially when it comes to physically risky behavior, but I also wish that I could share in their constant belief that, in the words of Bob Marley, “every little think is going to be alright.”

Comedian George Carlin added to this discussion when he said, “Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.” It’s good advice, but for most of us, it’s easier said than done. After all, what about the mortgage, and the price of health insurance, and that meeting at work, and the doctors appointment, and on and on and on. Life can be stressful and there’s so much to worry about.

One thing I have learned over the years is that being stressed is a response. We may not be able to control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to what happens to us. So being stressed is a choice. We can choose to be stressed and worried about what happens to us (or what we think might happen), or we can choose to calmly accept things and just go with the flow.

I have to admit that although I am better at choosing my responses than I used to be, I’m still not great at it. So while I’m learning to worry less and be more fearless, I’ll watch how my kids handle the changes that come into their lives. Right now, they’re handling it by going outside to play catch in the Florida sun. This time, I think my response will be to join them.