Got kids? Take a Hike!

Parents, let's get real. Hiking with kids can be hard. As parents of three, we've been there and we're not about to give you a glossy telling of our experiences. Here's how it went when we first started:

Someone was always hungry.

Someone was always running ahead.

Someone was always too tired.

Someone wanted a new family.

Sounds miserable, huh? It doesn't have to be. We're not here to give you technical hiking tips or to suggest that your experience will be identical to ours, but we do want to tell you what worked for us and hope it helps you find your groove faster than we found ours.

Before you go, pack a bag with plenty of water, add a variety of healthy snacks plus something that feels like a treat, organize a small first aid kit for scapes and stings, throw in a trash bag (biodegradable for the win!), and—if you like our scavenger hunt idea—bring a piece of paper and a pencil. Ensure you dress the kids in soft, cozy clothing and shoes they've already broken in. Layers are lifesavers, especially if your kiddo is sensitive to being too hot or cold.

Here's where the pro-level parenting comes in (insert eye roll here because we have never been pros at anything). Be strategic about how you start your hike. For example, we don't tell our kiddos about the sweet snack we threw in the bag, and, typically, we don't bring up the snacks at all. If they know about the snacks, they can become fixated on them and want a snack break ten steps into the hike. If we get to the trail and everyone's in an awesome, can-do mood, we just hit the trail, keeping our pace nice and even.

With three, though, we don't get many easy starts. One of our kiddos is prone to anxiety and can do some heavy whining at the start of our hikes. Knowing he's feeling anxious makes it easier for us to guide him through his emotions. To do that, we talk about how we're a team and make sure our pace feels easy to him. On a longer hike at Brown's Ranch in Arizona, this particular kiddo was wearing an outfit that reminded our oldest of a college basketball coach. When he got grouchy with his siblings, our oldest would say, "You're nothing without your team, coach." That's now our family's hiking mantra.

Mom and "coach" on a hike in Brown's Ranch.

To lighten everyone's mood at the start of a hike, we turn on the fun! When our kids were much smaller, we came up with the idea of a hiking scavenger hunt. We split into teams (we suggest parents versus kids to thwart sibling rivalry) and have an award system for things found on our hikes. Typically, we look for wildlife, offering 1 point for squirrels and most birds, 10 points for deer or bigger birds like eagles and hawks, and 100 points for a special animal. Depending on where we're hiking, that could be a moose, a bobcat, or a bear. We've been known to create a bit of lore and tell the story of a mythical creature that "walks these woods." Sometimes, we even find "evidence" that the creature is nearby (our hiking lore has saved us from many a meltdown). One of our kids loves ferns, so ferns are always on the list - maybe for you, a favorite is moss or salamanders hiding under rocks. Imagine what your kids love and tailor your hunt to what excites them.

The first kilometer of a 10K in Canada. Always the hardest part - always worth it.

We always say the first mile is the hardest, just getting everyone's heart rates steady and helping them to feel at ease is the biggest challenge of the day. Once we're past that, we settle into our pace and our scavenger hunt, sometimes yelling, "Parkour!" and challenging the kids to jump from rock to rock, or finding the perfect log bench to sit on and enjoy healthy snacks. When we need a longer break, we look for creatures in puffy clouds or try to be as quiet as possible to see what wildlife might start moving in front of us. The trash bag we packed is, of course, for our refuse but also to teach our kids trail manners. When we see litter, we don't just shake our heads. We pick it up and take it with us. At the end of the hike, we make sure to high-five the kids for leaving the trail better than they found it.

Remember those sweet treats we encouraged you to pack? Those are for emergencies. If someone scrapes a knee or has a meltdown, a sweet surprise might come in handy!

While no hike is without challenges, we always go home feeling better than when we arrived. There's always a funny story or a memory of a gorgeous view or animal sighting to take with us. After all, we're nothing without our team.