Have you ever noticed that you need others in order to make it through adventures and ordeals?

Case in point, tubing on Lake Okanagan. Our school board chair, Rick Thiessen and his wife Karen (who is also our school’s transportation coordinator) invited my family to spend an afternoon boating with them.

The Thiessen’s have a five-person tube and all four of my kids joined me in an exciting ride. The thing is, the two people on the outside edges of the tube really have to hang on in order to prevent getting whipped off the tube as it speeds through corners and over the waves of the boat’s wake. I was relegated to one of those outside positions and it very quickly became apparent that I was not going to be able to hang on for very long on my own.

Hang on!

That’s where my kids worked together to keep me and my son, Justin, who was on the other outside edge, from skipping across the waves sans tube. My youngest daughter, Jae-Lynn, would grab one of my ankles every time we were about to go around a corner, and my oldest son, Josh, who was securely located in the centre of the tube, would actually throw his arm over my back. Carissa and Josh would do the same thing for Justin when he was on the outside of a corner.

Collectively, with a lot of laughter, we managed to hang on longer than any of us thought possible. Rick gave us a really thrilling ride and I am pretty sure we hung on through some corners and waves that typically would have sent at least one person flailing off into space. It was awesome!

In the end, we hit a big wave off the wake while I was actually on the inside of a corner. I was bounced straight up and straight off the tube. Still, for what felt like half an hour (though I am pretty sure it was less than ten minutes) my kids worked together like a well-oiled machine to keep everyone where they were supposed to be.

We were a team.

Making it Together

Going into this new school year I am so thrilled to be part of a team that works together to keep everything and everyone safe and supported.

We all have different roles to play. Some of us are on the outside edge and might only be able to hang on with the help of a bunch of other people. Others of us are secure in the middle and are in a position to help those struggling on the outside.

Wherever you are, hang on, grab an ankle if you can, and remember to laugh together a lot.