How to get your child to like [insert thing here]

A brief explainer

Our first family ‘hike’ | 21 June, 2021

18 days after our daughter was born, we went on our first family hike. I use the word hike loosely here as it was just a walk along the river near our home as my wife was still recovering from what was a physically debilitating birth. But in my books, that’ll always be classified as the first hike of our daughter’s life.

I wrapped her against my chest and we showed her flowers and the leaves on the trees and the buzzing bees. A few months later, it was autumn and it’s one I’ll never forget. I’d stand beneath giant trees that were alight with reds, oranges, and yellows and she’d stare for what felt like forever at the colourful leaves swaying in the wind.

That was the start of what’s been (almost) a weekly tradition for our family, filled with hikes and other outdoor adventures.

We went from baby wearing to carrying her in our arms to sticking her in a hiking backpack, which she’s since outgrown, but still, on occasion, asks to go in. She’s even taken to putting her stuffies in the backpack and bringing them on ‘hikes’ around our home.

The moment she was able to walk, we’d find spots to take her out of the backpack so she could explore the trails. She’d play in leaves and snow, dip her feet in the water, drag sticks along the path, inspect bugs, and point and babble at everything that interested her.

She’s hiked more than she’s done any other activity in her life and it’s not particularly close.

This past weekend, we went on a two-hour hike at a local conservation area and she walked the entire time, which was no small feat for her little legs. But we kept her enthusiasm high by playing hide-and-seek, singing songs together, and taking frequent stops to inspect everything from puffballs to ink beetles to the mysterious rustling sounds coming from a bush just off the path (we never did find out what was moseying about in there).

Inspecting a puffball we found.

Hunting is also a big part of our life, but especially my wife’s life. So, every November, we take her up to the family farm where she partakes in the annual deer hunt. We do the same each spring for turkey hunting. Last year, she helped skin deer in preparation for them to be butchered, and now she talks about how excited she is to turn 12 one day so she can tag along as a junior hunter.

Similarly, she’s spent countless hours at baseball diamonds watching us both play ball. Both my wife and I now coach her (pre) tee-ball team as well because we love baseball and hope that we can pass on our love for the sport to her in some way, shape, or form.

This is her life despite living in a city in an apartment building. It’s a life we’ve deliberately built whereby she gets excited for hiking, hunting, and nature. So few things go to plan when raising kids, but this… this was always part of the plan.

All this is to say that if you want your child to like anything, it is going to require a significant investment on your behalf.

This can seem like a burden, but in our experience, it’s been pure joy.

Now that she’s four-and-a-half, she’s begun developing her own interests. For instance, she discovered a love for ballet and started taking lessons in September. I know nothing about ballet and I am an embarrassingly bad dancer. But when she says, “Daddy, come do ballet with me,” you best believe I plié and twirl around our living room with her like a complete goof and she loves it. I’ll dance with her for as long as she wants me to.

It’s such a blessing to be able to do these things with her and to see her take a genuine interest in it all. Nearly every weekend, she asks to go on a hike with me and she even has favourite trails that she likes to explore.

I feel so lucky to have a little sidekick to take on all these adventures. But luck is probably the wrong word. She likes doing this stuff with me because I like doing it with her.

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