This memory is a little fuzzy for me, but I’m going to give it my best shot.  Friday night in our home was for two, possibly three things-The Dukes of Hazzard, maybe Back to the Future and family campouts in the living room.  Even when we had friends over we would pile blankets and pillows in the living room, watch a show, eat popcorn and fall asleep.  I would love to get into a running commentary about how The Dukes of Hazzard was not an appropriate show for young children to be watching, but I honestly don’t remember a lot about the show.  I remember being together.  I remember being huddled under the blankets with my younger brothers while we watched Back to the Future for the 100th time.  It was about being in the same place and creating simple memories that fused our hearts together.

This ritual was something my dad tried to hold onto for a long time.  Long after my brothers and I wanted to participate.  He always tried to hold on to those younger days when we were all satisfied with a pile of blankets and a show, but we got busy.  Our schedules became full with other events and sleepovers at other places.

Our early campouts made an imprint on our hearts.  When my oldest nephew and niece were born, and old enough, we tried to recreate the memory at my brother’s house because it meant so much to us.  It was brutal, not because of the company, but simply because we were old and needed beds to be comfortable and the snoring, oh my goodness, the snoring!

Now that I have kids of my own, this is not an activity that I would even consider doing with them.  One, they need sleep, lots of sleep to be functioning little humans.  Two, I sleep with a CPAP machine (more on that later).  Neither have led to the family campout, but my parents desire to have simple family traditions was not lost on me.  I feel like I’m constantly trying to find our thing that can be our thing.  It has been fun learning what connects with my boys and what they remember.

When they were super little and we were all waiting for Kevin to get home, so we could have a break from each other, I would hide a small stuffed animal in the living room and the boys would take turns finding it.  Just the other day, one of them asked to play the hiding game.  It had been a long time since we had played and it surprised me it was something they remembered.  So while we are not a campout family, we are a family on a mission to create simple memories that foster closeness, connection and camaraderie.  Sometimes I’m dragging my kids to participate, just like my dad, and other times they surprise me with how excited they get. But I won’t give up on giving my kids the campout feeling.  It’s something they will look back on an remember for a long time.