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The best $4 ever spent

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Re: The best $4 ever spent

#61

Post by gk1 »

aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

> My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions.

Exactly. The author didn't mention it but it's not just the bus ride, it's how they engaged with their daughter during that ride.

Remember the mania over the total eclipse in April in the US? I took my daughter on 250-mile roadtrip to see it. The drive took a few hours there, then 9 (!!) hours back because of horrendous traffic. It could've been a tantrum-filled disaster, but I committed to staying upbeat and fully engaged the entire time, and as a result it was a fun and memorable trip we still talk about today.

Oh and we didn't even get to see the eclipse ... 95% cloud coverage.

So yeah step 1 is creating time + space for things like this -- like taking a long bus ride -- but a crucial step 2 is leaning into it with presence and attention to your child.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#62

Post by pmzy »

stephen_cagle wrote: post #42

This sort of content feels good in the immediacy but ultimately lessens the quality of hn. I'm not concerned about this post specifically, but I feel that we should be more critical of things like this making it onto hn. I come to hn to mostly hear about tech, tech advances, startups, etc. I don't come here to read feel good (and admittedly, very cute) stories. They have their place, but I feel that place is not hn.

OP here. I see where you're coming from and I even agree with you. I seek and like tech posts on HN.

That being said, I enjoy reading (and writing) human stories as well! Plus, it's nice to read the many stories people are sharing in the comments of this post. It shows that our community isn't as cold/ruthless as some may think :)

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#63

Post by jll29 »

stephen_cagle wrote: post #42

This sort of content feels good in the immediacy but ultimately lessens the quality of hn. I'm not concerned about this post specifically, but I feel that we should be more critical of things like this making it onto hn. I come to hn to mostly hear about tech, tech advances, startups, etc. I don't come here to read feel good (and admittedly, very cute) stories. They have their place, but I feel that place is not hn.

I come to HM for technology matters, but I am genuinely interested to see that the many geeks here from hardware nerd over full-stack developer to investor or founder are all also human beings that have ordinary lives and ordinary problems.

It is valuable content to read on HN how fellow geeks see other spheres of life.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#64

Post by waciki »

foobarian wrote: post #57
brink wrote: post #29

I've been spending my entire adult life trying to rediscover this spiritual joy of being a child. I remember it so fondly. My daughter is about to turn 2 and I'm secretly hoping that she can help me find at least a little of it.

A while ago I was at our patio table with my 4 year old, we were building a house/castle thing out of scrap cardboard. At one point while painting it she pauses and looks over at the garden/woods. I asked her what she saw, she smiled at me and said, "I'm just... happy." I'll never forget it :-)

this is beautiful, thanks for sharing.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#65

Post by wenc »

Forget about toys. Kids love big cardboard boxes. My nephews and nieces love them.

I’m middle aged but I remember building so many make believe things out of boxes. All I needed were markers, glue and paper. My parents couldn’t afford those mini cars so I built them myself. Out of boxes.

A big box could be a car. Or a fort. Or a castle. Or a boat.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#66

Post by quercusa »

justusthane wrote: post #53
aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

A few months ago, we took our year-and-a-half-old daughter to Belgium and Spain for two weeks. Her favorite part of the whole trip was seeing horses, sheep, and geese (all of which, believe it or not, we have here at home in Canada).

When I was about seven, my sister and I were taken on a special trip to see the Giant Pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. The pandas were fine, but we were fascinated by the chipmunks running around everywhere.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#67

Post by tomkaos »

aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

I have travel entire Vietnam with people with kids. After seeing all the pagoda, park, cave, amusement park.. the best part of the travel for the kid was the pool at one hotel.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#68

Post by 98codes »

aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

I had a similar experience -- their (age 2 & 5) favorite thing? Was it the rides, meeting all the characters? No. The parking lot tram.

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#69

Post by wetpaws »

stephen_cagle wrote: post #42

This sort of content feels good in the immediacy but ultimately lessens the quality of hn. I'm not concerned about this post specifically, but I feel that we should be more critical of things like this making it onto hn. I come to hn to mostly hear about tech, tech advances, startups, etc. I don't come here to read feel good (and admittedly, very cute) stories. They have their place, but I feel that place is not hn.

[dead]

Re: The best $4 ever spent

#70

Post by desertrider12 »

98codes wrote: post #68
aantix wrote: post #16

We took our kids to Disney World once. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded.. The hot tub. At the hotel. My kids light up the most when I am fully engaged with them, fully present, entertaining their ideas, and asking questions. Their favorite family trip so far? When we traveled to Arkansas to mine for crystals. AKA, dig in the dirt all day. They saw it on a YouTube video. They asked t…

I had a similar experience -- their (age 2 & 5) favorite thing? Was it the rides, meeting all the characters? No. The parking lot tram.

Funny, this was also my favorite ride when I was 4!
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