My family is built on traditions. From Grandma Rolls to outdoor Easter egg hunts, we've got a tradition for nearly everything - and that's how I like it.
Every summer my Mom takes a week or two off work and drives up to spend some time with her parents, her siblings (and their children) and my family. And every summer a large group of them go tubing on a local river. This is the one tradition I've studiously avoided being a part of.
I don't like being submerged in water and I don't like not being in control - the two main components of tubing. When you go tubing, the river takes over - it tells you where to go and it decides just how fast you're going there. It pushes you into the trees along the banks and it catches you in little whirlpools.
Mr. Wonderful loves tubing. The Boy, Scooter and Pibb love tubing. I've always stayed home, partly because I didn't really want to go and partly because Midge and Pookie were just too small to spend an afternoon on the river. A few years ago Mr. Wonderful convinced me to try it - just the two of us.
My sister was visiting and she agreed to watch the kids for the afternoon. I bought a bathing suit (my first in over a decade) and we went. Mr. Wonderful knew I was nervous, so he tied our tubes together so I wouldn't be swept away by the current (a fear of mine). It was cold and scary and even seeing a Green Heron wasn't enough to make me truly enjoy it. But it wasn't as bad as I'd expected and I agreed to try again the following year.
The next year it was a little easier and I didn't panic nearly as much. I began to relax and spend more time noticing the beauty of the river and less time worrying about it. I saw cedar waxwings and gold finches, a few minnows, ducks and turtles and I laughed when Mr. Wonderful made jokes. I still wasn't completely comfortable, but I began to see the fun that could be had.
This year when Mr. Wonderful asked me to go, I immediately agreed. I'm still nervous, but each time I go it gets easier and more fun. Then he suggested that we should buy a small inflatable boat and take everyone - he and the bigger kids could tube and I could stay in the boat with Pookie and Midge (the ones small enough to fall through the hole in the middle of the tube). After some debate and research we decided to go for it.
It was even more nerve-wracking to have all the kids there (I'm a Nervous Nelly), but the bigger kids have gone more times than I have, so they're old pros. It was a perfect day, not too hot, just a little breezy and the water was just the right temperature!
The little boat came with two small paddles and let me tell you, they made a world of difference. I felt much more empowered, like I had some small measure of control over where we went. Mr. Wonderful praised my ability to steer the boat, especially since I'd never done it before.
All in all, it was a great family experience and I think I may actually start participating in the tubing tradition.
Yay!!!
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