Parents blog: Getting kids outside in winter

Getting ready to ski can be downright painful.

It’s hard enough at times to get myself outfitted for the weather, but it becomes even more challenging when I have to cajole my 3- and 6-year-olds into long underwear, snowsuits, gloves, helmets and other ski gear.

My children love winter but the other day on Mount Spokane they had to plow through heavy, Pacific snow while being pelted by freezing rain.

Somehow, they were still smiling when we went into the lodge for hot chocolate.

I spent my childhood in the Philippines so skiing was never part of my family’s culture. But things changed when I married someone from Alaska. I learned to downhill ski when I was 28 and then took up Nordic skiing after the birth of my oldest child.

I absolutely love to cross-country ski on the Nordic trails at Mount Spokane but I sometimes still dread having to pack the Chariot (the ski pulk), the kids’ skis, my stuff, food, hot chocolate, treat and everything else we need to make winter an enjoyable experience.

“You have to have a sense of humor about this,” my husband said after lunch as he helped the kids ease into semi-wet snowsuits.

As much as I struggle getting the family ready, I have to say it’s been worth all the effort. Skiing has brought my family even closer, I think, and being outdoors in the winter time has taught my children to embrace nature.

How about you? What winter activities does your family do? How do you get everybody ready and out the door? How do you keep it fun when the weather gets challenging?

– Posted by Virginia de Leon

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