Trips with My Kids ....Looking ahead!

       "We'll wake up tomorrow at 4:55 AM, son!  Then we'll be off to see something you've never seen before! ",Dad had told me on our Darjiling trip. I was indignant...... It was too early to wake up,  when on a vacation,  and I demanded that I be allowed to sleep.  The defiant 6 year old in me hated it that without school or studies, I would need to be up so early.  But Dad had a glint in his eyes, and I realised it meant something special.  Indeed it was..... Sunrise from Tiger Hill was the most scintillating piece of nature's magnificence that I remember from my childhood!  Wrapped in woollen from head to toe,  I was amazed at the giant color palette that became of the sky as the sun made its way up from behind the mountains.  Like all tourists,  I had clapped in glee and my mum and dad were elated,  seeing that their son had appreciated the beautiful scenery they had brought him to see!! 

        Now that I've reached an age reasonable to be thinking of a family of my own,  I remember vividly,  how, I was brought up by my parents,  with three vacations a year.  I feel,  I should also look forward to present my kids with such opportunities when the time arrives in the near future!  I would gladly aid my kids on their ventures to make sand castles on sea beaches,  aiding them with their little spades to dig up sand.  I would play the role of a log of wood and ask my kids to cover me fully with sand,  quickly,  before the next splash of sea water wipes all of it away!  I would join them in their efforts to collect sea shells on sea shore,  early morning.....guiding them on how to select the beautifully patterned shells and save them!  Seeing them frolicking in the waters of the sea would fill me with immense delight and I would click the pictures, to preserve their childhood forever,  so that one day, they can see, how they were, in their childhood...... just as my dad had preserved my playful past through his photographs! 
              Taking my kids to see the Sunrise from Tiger Hill would certainly rank above all others in my places-to-take-my-kids list! My dad had infused in me a spirit of adventure by taking me for hiking trips from a very early age,  and I want to instil the same spirit in my kids,  so that they take up Rock climbing and River Crossing too. I would not be a Dad who would pester the kids to be studying all the time..... I would rather have them taken out on frequent trips,  long or short,  so that they develop the outlook to savour nature and respect it!  While on trips, they would relax like me, in hammocks,  slung between two trees at our holiday resorts,  and note down their experiences in their own words,which I would read, appreciate and provide words of encouragement!  Their little travel diaries would become loaded with their experiences, so that they can delve into their past,  from time to time,  and feel proud,  that they indeed managed to have an eventful childhood!!

            

Written as part of the Teddy Travelogues contest in association with Indiblogger. Do visit this link , and find out more about Clubmahindra.