Let it snow! Skiing is in our family DNA. PLUS! Forcing my kids to play hooky from school to read more!
I’m a 3rd generation skier raising a 4th generation. Just how many generations before skiing starts to become embedded within our DNA? 
Over the last three weeks, Reno-Tahoe’s seen several winter storms. As I write this, it’s cold outside and all the Tahoe peaks are covered in the good white stuff. This year will be Logan’s (8) third year on the Alpine Meadows ski team. Cody (5) will be starting his first year. Yay! Last year, Logan played hooky from school about 13 days to hit every day of ski team plus the few powder days we had. I expect Logan and Cody will be missing a similar amount of school again this year.
Skiing for us is a lot of time spent together as a family. (See post from 2004.) It means 50+ days of being together. The 50+ days of 1.5 to 2.5 hours in the car together is where Logan gets a massive amount of homework and reading. It means a lot of discipline getting out of bed at 6:30am to be on the road by 7:30am to be in the lodge by 8:30am booting up and ready for 9am ski team start. It means a lot of lodge-time playing foosball, wrestling, eating, goofing off and hanging out with friends and other family. It means a lot of time riding the chairlifts with my kids and good wife talking and singing/making up stupid songs. And, of course, it means skiing! Whether the snow is great or the snow sucks, at least we’re skiing!
Skiing also introduces my kids to mentors like Shane McConkey…who my kids idolize as an “educational role model”. Shane can read. He can also ski, too!
Here’s a video of Cody from last January (2007). He was 4 at the time…about a month before his 5th birthday. Juxtaposed to that is a video of Paul Dugan — the Washoe County School District’s Superintendent (who kicks ass BTW) — giving Logan a reading award when he was in kindergarten 2 years a go.
The point: ski for literacy <grin>.
Comments
By Robert Payne on October 8th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I am very jealous of kids who get to ski with their dad. My Dad has just never been into skiing, but I friggin love it!
By Brian on October 9th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Dude, what a killer movie. Sean’s turning 4 in a month and I think this will be a great year to get him up on the hill…maybe Rosebuds or something. I can’t wait!
By Lynnette on October 15th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Fingers crossed that it will be a good snow year. So far, so good! Skiing is also our family’s way of bonding. I think I’ll wait to get Little MIss on skis, but my brother is egging me on to get her out this year, at less than 2 years old…
By David on December 5th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Oh man! YEA! my 3 year old goes up for the first time next week. Yea AZ snow!
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