Monday, November 30, 2009

Genea Was Brave (and now she is done)

When we were in New Mexico visiting The Husbands origins and family, we all decided to go out for a hike. Now one does not need to strain oneself to imagine conditions that put me in a position to where being outside in the nature was preferable to the lovely warm indoors, which is where people belong. I voluntarily went into the woods and canyons and stuff where bugs and vermin live in droves. Yes I did. So we went to some state park where The Husband knew his way around (he said) since he had lived there his whole growing up life.



Seriously, the only way I would normally walk anywhere is if there is a bar or a handbag sale on the other side of your rotten little gravelly path. And I can't go to bars anymore because I can't drink anymore because I need all my wits about me to live with these children and keep us all alive. Can't be going around with muted powers of observation.



ANYhow, so I let The Husband make the decisions and choices. I KNOW what you are thinking and you are right. He chose some jumbled up path with rocks and tree roots and nature junk all over it to get to some waterfall.



It was a ONE AND A HALF MILE WALK.




It was 1.5 miles of serious hiking people. Canyons and hills and such. Remember we live in Wisconsin. I grew up in Chicago where our hills were former landfills capped off (by the mob) (LOL). My girls think a rain ditch is a hill.





This is the janky waterfall. It was another 743 miles to get to the actual water. Since it was about 38 degrees outside and oh yeah, we had already walked a mile and a half, I said haaaiiiillllll NO we would not be going all the way down in that big huge hole. Okay, but you see what is feeding the waterfall up there at the top, it's a river or creek or whatever. As we were hiking we came to a point wherein our path mistakenly turned straight into the stream creek thing, right at the point where it was raging over broken up mossy rocks. Only there was no mistake, we had to cross IN the river to get to the other side. All 3 of us stood and glared at The Husband for a few minutes and he finally carried Genea over the rocks and walked over with Teena. Then he came back for me since I was perfectly happy to go back to the minivan and leave if he didn't.

We saw the waterfall after walking the rest of the way over the hills. Teena and her Daddy spent time looking at the nature things, little plants and petrified turds, while Genea and I had more concrete plans of getting the heck out of there. So she and I hustled back. She asked me if I could roll up her pants. Naturally I went with the immediate reaction of.... nonsense question! But no, what she wanted was for me to roll up her pants so she could try to walk through the raging river rapids herself. She wanted to try it. Walking in the water. Over the rocks. Over the slimy green stuff. Where she was going to have wet feet and be stuck that way for awhile. Where she could get, could easily get, knocked over and washed away. Fall over, fall in. She wanted to try, she told me. To be brave and to try.


Well knock me out with a diaper genie! I mean, this child is afraid of lint. Not just afraid, terrified, of just about everything she has ever come across. Paralyzed she was last week, unable to speak or move at the sight of the shampoo bowl at our hairstylists, even though she has been there and was fine 3 other times. She had a near panic attack when I changed the generic wheat bread I buy for her pbj's. Genea lives in fear. Fear is so prevalent in our lives it is like having a third kid.

I agreed I would let her try but only with her Daddy.








It actually looks fairly mild in the photos but take my word for it, it was a good 6 inches deep and moving fast.






And Genea was done and safe. And I still made The Husband walk me over too. And she and I walked ahead of him and Teena again and talked the whole rest of the way about how brave she was. How scary that was, and how she tried it anyway. And since she tried, now she knew she could do it!!!!!!!!! Because she DID IT!


Wooo Hoooo!


If anyone wants to leave a comment for Genea in addition to any regular comments, I will read it to her and let you know what she says.
***updated*** I forgot to mention the best part. As we were walking back to the car, Genea and I, and I was gushing over her bravery she told me, "I don't ever have to be brave again.... I did it"!

19 comments:

  1. Way to go Genea!!!!! I'm so amazed at your bravery! Next thing you know you'll be climbing Mt. Everest. :)

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  2. Genea,
    Wow! You are a VERY BRAVE GIRL! You must have been so scared, but you tried it anyway, and you did it! Now you know you can do it! Do you know what is really, really cool? Now when you feel scared about other things, you can remember this time when you were scared, but you tried, and you BEAT THE FEAR.. and maybe you will be brave enough to try again!

    You are so lucky to have a Mom & Dad that love you and want to help you feel brave every day. Aren't families awesome?!

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  3. Genea,

    You were so BRAVE!! You saw the creek and the rocks and wanted to try. That was a good choice. Thank you for showing us how to try new things.

    Peace,
    :)De

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  4. Good for Genea to wade through the stream. And what beautiful scenery! Nature is beautiful and peaceful and calming It's relaxing to walk in the fresh air and admire the sights.
    Yeah, I know about quicksand and bears and tornadoes, but I'll take the great outdoors any day over a traffic jam or a bunch of pushing, shoving women trying to grab the cashmere sweaters on sale at Bloomingdales We have a vacation home in Maine and the kids love boating and camping and exploring the woods. I'll bet Genea would love camping in the woods in a tent.
    So yes, Genea is brave and so is your husband, for wearing that shirt with the horizontal stripes!

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  5. Dear Genea,

    Way to go crossing that river! I know you must be so proud of yourself for being so brave. Isn't it amazing to find out that you are someone who can feel afraid of something and still decide to try it?

    Be sure to give your mom and dad a big hug for giving you so much support as you found your bravery to walk across those rocks.

    BT from Canada

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  6. I think this is the funniest post you've written... Even though I grew up in Colorado and every vacation was spent backpacking, exploring jeep trails and camping above Timberline, it was never a good fit. All I needed was to discover what it was like to stay in a hotel...no looking back! (Actually, I'm very grateful for those experiences...they just weren't quite "me").


    Perhaps Genea has found her element.

    Genea - have your mommy make a big copy of one of those pictures for your room! That is something you will want to remember!

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  7. Genea,

    You are the bravey-est girl ever!

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  8. Geena, how brave of you to try conquering your fears. We are all afraid of something and we can either face it or run from it. You have a great mom who loves you and is so proud of you! So are we!

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  9. Geena way to go! That was very brave of you and I bet it was fun too.

    PS Essie,m i left you a comment on my blog, apparently blogger only likes Lisa as she is the only one who's comments ever get emailed to me.

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  10. Great job Genea!!!

    Isn't it nice to know that you can be SO brave if you want to? :-) It's pretty cool what people can do when they try!

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  11. Good job, Genea!! You rock, Girlie!

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  12. You're right - what Genea said about never having to be brave again WAS the best! So funny. Well, what you said about bar and handbags was pretty funny too.

    Tell Genea that I think she's a pretty cool kid for being so brave. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. That water looks cold! And wet!

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  13. Dear Genea,

    You are so BRAVE! And no, you never ever have to be brave again. That is only something you need to do once and you got it out of the way! You go girl!

    (I'm totally kidding. I think I am funny but no one else does...)

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  14. Genea will have a very good adventure story to tell her teachers and friends at school. She was very brave to go hiking and crossing the stream!

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  15. Genea,

    That was the most amazing river walk I have ever seen!! And I have a son that loses a shoe everytime he is near a bathtub.

    I also think that you are very lucky to have a Mommy & Daddy that let you try, even when you are a little scared. Sometimes that is the hardest part, trying when you are just a little scared.

    Good luck with Algebra, we now know you can do it!

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  16. Genea!!

    I am so PROUD of you. You were so, so brave. I think the bravest people are the ones who are afraid and try anyway.

    You DID it!!

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  17. Genea, your bravery experience would make a good book for other kids who have a fear of something! I still am scared of things and it's hard to do them. Now I will just think of you and the river, and then try my hardest to go for it. Just like you did--way to go!

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  18. Great job Genea!!! You were so brave!

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  19. Dear Genea,
    I loved seeing the pictures of you crossing the river with your Dad. How cool that you walked on the rocks! You did a great job! Yeah, Geana!
    Your fan,
    Miss Lindy

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