i type this as my techoweenie bangs on the keyboard, so forgive any errors and lack of coherence.

i think the above point is sometimes used as a cop-out. i'm NOT saying that you, rockprodigy, have used that point in such a context; i'm only speaking from personal experience. yes, it is true that a breastfeeding mother is well, feeding the kid. but my point is that there are other things that she may need help with. in my relationship with my husband, these things, at times, have been overlooked and chalked up to 'you're the breastfeeding mother.' boy does that churn up the ol resentment cogs. but with time, and persistent communication, these things can be cleared up.

This is the new book.

emphasis added.

so i'm guessing those things are like, bathing the kid, getting the kid to eat, dressing the kid, diapers, washing the diapers? these are just the things my no-kids-only-babysitting-experience comes up with. if you feel comfortable sharing, i'd love to be enlighted. because, in all seriousness, if i can ever get over the utter terror i have of getting pregnant and delivering, we might actually have kids, and i'd like to be prepared.

And also, to me the things like diapering, feeding, bathing, etc, seem like a minor almost "mechanical" part of parenting. Sure, these things seem so BIG when you are just adjusting to having a child, and everyone talks about these things asif it were a major, major thing, but in retrospect, all of that passes so quickly.

But what is left AFTER the child is potty-trained, able to feed him/herself, and able to take a shower? Are the parenting duties over then, is it easier now? No, they are just beginning-- the real parenting duties, the ones that last a lot longer, and are a lot harder, IMO, yet the ones that seem more "hidden", ia way, b/c they are not concrete and obvious, like diapering and bottle-feeding, and harder to "divide". Really, almost everyone is able to diaper and feed a bottle to a baby. IMO it is a lot easier to diaper, dress, and feed a baby than to deal with a toddler who is throwing the 100th tantrum of the day; or with the pre-schooler who seems to have forgotten over-night how to talk in any voice other then the most whiny grating and annoing pitch that frays your nerves faster than anything else in the world; or with a tween who isn't sure who he is on a given day-- a toddler or a teen; or with a teen who thinks he knows everything (and so on, with each age having it's own unique frustration).

I remember hearing my Mom say jokingly to her friend:"Little kids don't let you sleep-- big kids don't let you live". She didn't know she was over-heard, LOL, and I think she was referring specifically to teenage-hood, but there is some truth to it for other ages, too.


So at this stage-- forget the chores, 60% or 70%, who cares. What I need from a partner is sharing of those "other" things.

I've known others to do this, one guy has his nieces and nephew climbing from age 5.

But I met a couple while out climbing who were climbing 5.12's leading, while their well behaved 3 yr old daughter sat still on her little chair as she was asked to by her Father. They did aok and they were on 5.12's.

I started climbing when my kids were 6 months, 4,8,12 and 13 years old. We started taking them out when the youngest was 1. We climb in the gym a couple of days a week and outside on the weekends.. this works for us. I just want you all to know that motherhood and climbing do go together great. Where there is a will there is a way! Climb hard, love your kids, and enjoy the great outdoors!

Sure my child may not like what I do, but chances are they will too, especially the more you do, I'd be surprised if they did not like any, have you known any parents into the outdoors who had their children out there from a young age ongoing, to grow up disliking it?? Well I certainly haven't. But that is me.

staci, it must suck to be you, thinking that squeezing top roped plastic 12s at the local gym is climbing. How much Pakistani ice did you pull last season? Or how many lead routes at 12 over 8 pitches? I'm a mom with kids and climb all over the world but I tell ya, susan is right ON when you're talking about the real thing. climbing does have a few soccer moms and staci,you sound like the queen of them all.

clee.. wake up now, you will be less shocked and depressed when you finally do have a baby

good discussion here ladies , hang in there. it's great to have kids but wise up to reality and it goes better.

Yes, actually. That would be my son. He enjoys camping, hiking, white-water rafting, and skiing well enough. But he would prefer to stay inside and read a book instead of doing any of the above.

He certainly has been exposed to the great outdoors from the early age, and we have tried to make it fun. As he grew older, his preferred method of making the outdoors "fun" became taking a book to read with him, while he is outdoors. He lugs at least 10 pounds worth of books on a hike to the crag, "so he won't be bored" -- that's how much he enjoys going cragging with us...
I strongly suspect that as soon he is a teenager old enough to stay home alone overnight, he would be begging to do that, instead of going camping. I expect that he would continue skiing for a while b/c all his friends are into it, too, he likes the fact that we go skiing with couple other families (his firends) so he would probably keep doing it for that reason...

It remains to be seen whether he would partake in any of the "outdoorsy" pursuits when he is an adult living on his own and making his own choices. But I wouldn't bet too much money on it.

I failed to tell you that my youngest child is now 11. We have been taking them out climbing for 10 years. and yes the older kids still enjoy climbing as adults. In fact my granddaughter who is 5 comes climbing with us sometimes. I feel very lucky to be able to climb with my husband, young children, adult children and granddaughter all at the same time! We are lucky to live where there is lots of real rock to climb within 15 min. of our house and even more rock to climb within 1 hour. So...time to go climbing.

I have a point, I think...so stay with me.

I remained active doing the things that I love doing throughout my pregnancy; including climbing up until a week before I gave birth. Since my daughter's arrival, we took her on her first hike (5 minutes to and from) to the river when she was a day old. When she was 3 days old, we took her to a mountain lake near where we live. When she was two weeks, we took her on her first camping trip to escape the 100+ degree heat (she was very intolerant of heat) and to a lake to swim. At two weeks, we also took her climbing up the canyon we live near (Logan Canyon). We've continued to explore the outdoors with her as well as suburban pursuits such as the zoo, gallery walks, parks, music, etc. the fabric store (she's been very tactile since day 1). She's enjoyed all of her adventures. But I expect her to find other things that she may or may not enjoy more.

That! Is fantastic!!
I won't feel so bad lead climbing next month now, I will just think of you who did this up to a week prior to giving birth. Very brave I have to say. I am dropping a grade to be on safe side myself.

FWIW, I didn't lead while I was pregnant. I'm NOT criticizing anyone who does. One day got really nervous while I was setting lead routes at the gym and had to climb up on the scaffolding behind the wall to get to the anchors at the top. It was while I was squeezing myself between the roof and the wall to clip anchors, and looking down 45 ft that I decided that I wasn't gonna be on the sharpend for a while. I'm not normally scared of heights, so this was a strange sensation. Therefore, I submitted to toproping...and anyone who knows me know that I HATE toproping. So, technically I was a toprope warrior up until 37 weeks. My last pre-birth outing was at the City of Rocks.

One day got really nervous while I was setting lead routes at the gym and had to climb up on the scaffolding behind the wall to get to the anchors at the top. It was while I was squeezing myself between the roof and the wall to clip anchors, and looking down 45 ft that I decided that I wasn't gonna be on the sharpend for a while. I'm not normally scared of heights, so this was a strange sensation.

Why would you think that I only climb on plastic? I live in Colorado with real rock all around me. Garden of The Gods is 10 min. from my house! I am the furthest thing from a soccer that you will ever meet. All that I was saying is that it would suck to want to climb and not be able to. I am just lucky to be able to climb out side several times a week, and that my husband and kids ( and grandkid ) are all climbers.

I know exactly what you mean. The way I discovered I was pregnant with my first-- I didn't know I was pregnant yet, though we were trying... anyway, I went skiing. I got to the top, looked down, and got panicky, really panicky. It was a very strange and novel sensation, LOL. I came home and did a pregnancy test. Bingo!