Keeping the fire burning in your kids

I was following the thread on "when they ski better than you" and I noted Thatsagirl's note that some kids don't retain their passion for skiing. I hope to avoid that in the upcoming years.

Right now my wife and I ski with our three kids (Boy 11, Boy 9 and Girl 5) and they seem to love it as best I can tell. We have a number of strategies we employ to make this a positive experience for them.

1. They get to play their game boys, PSPs, Ipods on the drive.
2. They have input into where we ski.
3. They have input into when we go in to the lodge and what trails we ski.
4. We pack a lot of chocolate for on-trail consumption
5. They have definite jobs in regards to packing and loading/unloading.
6. We don't dump them in lessons or multi-week programs (although I believe in them). They don't want them and they still want to ski with us.
7. We get a little swag (stickers and/or patches) at almost every place we go.

In short, we have made it about them. We have tried to give them some authority and responsibility in the endeavor. We try to involve them in many aspects of the decision making process... and some outright bribery.

None of these strategies are our own. We have stolen and modified strategies from other skiing families that we know through work or in our town.

Right now the biggest thrill for them is to hook up with some buds and ski with them. So, we are making an effort to coordinate our trips with neighbors and family.

My concern is that in the next few years one or more them is going to want to give up skiing.

Are there any skiing families out there who have been through this stage?

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions about keeping their fire to ski burning?

FYI - we do not have a bottomless budget for this. We plan our season quite deliberately. But that is another thread.

Thanks,
rob

My 10 years old boy is now learning snowboard... A new challenge.

I've been skiing since I was 2 and I've been more obsessed with skiing than my parents. It's me begging to go, not them. Playing SSX On Tour every waking minute sure helps me get hyped up to go skiing. Try getting them to try new things if they get bored with groomers. What did it for me was twin tips. Now I've got the park to play around with as well as traditional skiing.

This makes a lot of sense to me, ... we do some of the same things, and our kids are similar ages (boy 12, girl 9).

I know that once the hormones kick in, things will change, and we will not be able to predict anything. PSP and chocolate are great for preteens, but I'm not sure how long they will rule!

We've taken some pretty interesting trips, as well, and combined them with skiing. Once to Whistler (which was mostly just a ski trip), once to Switzerland (which was skiing sandwiched between sightseeing). The kids ate it up, and I imagine that as long as we're buying, they'll travel with us anywhere to ski.

Your point about skiing with their buddies is a good one ... I know that I loved skiing with my friends and my brother and his friends when I was a teenager. I can't really remember skiing with my parents too much at that point. In college, I learned about the joys of skiing alone, too. I made many trips in my old yellow Subaru wagon from Boulder to ABasin or Mary Jane when my school schedule would allow. And sometimes when it wouldn't. Sometimes I'd go with friends, but I'd never let the lack of a partner keep me home.

Right now we are just enjoying it while we can, squeezing what we can out of it, and knowing that we gave them a good basis so even if they decide to do other things for a while, they'll always have something to return to. They are comfortable on their skis, and they will be able to pick it up at any time.

My opinion is that what your doing is fairly pointless. You can make someone LOVE something just like you cant make someone LOVE someone else, you can make it enjoyable and availible but in the end it will come down to your kids and what they feel about it and if they do not like it then your just SOL