I’m awake. It’s 6:30 am, still dark out and my rented house in El Potrero Chico is chilly. My mental alarm has gone off. I wish I could stay in bed a little longer, but I have a lot to do today. I slip into some warm clothes and go to the kitchen to make a coffee. I mentally go over my to do list for the day: Spelling, Multiplication Tables, Language Arts, Math and History: Not a typical day for a climber in El Potrero Chico, but I don’t suppose I’m the typical climber and my son, Zane is definitely not the typical 12 year old.
My husband and I have chosen to take Zane to Mexico for the school year and now we are home schooling. This was after 3 months and 2 attempts at private bilingual schools in the Yucatan. Originally, our goal was just to live in Mexico, learn Spanish and shake things up a bit. The trip wasn’t really meant to revolve around climbing, but non of us could stand living in Playa del Carmen so after a hiatus to EPC we decided to move our operation North to the small, somewhat depressed town of Hidalgo.
Zane is not new to travel. He’s probably spent more time in Indian Creek than most adult climbers, been all over the Western US and traveled in Peru, Thailand, Spain, Australia and Mexico. We are now living in a great house in El Potrero Chico, many climbers dream. But for us the reality doesn’t really resemble a climbers heaven. Small talk with the other climbers at Tami’s makes feel as though I’m living in another world. “Rest day?” they ask. “Not really”, I say “just another day”. Trying to assist my husband in our Web Design business and home school Zane keeps me fairly busy. For me, getting out to climb 2 days a week is a blessing, especially if I get to do something long one of those days and even more so if it’s with my husband. Right now he is in Ouray, setting the route for the Ice Festival so it’s been just Zane and I for a week now. It’s going well, but yoga and climbing are essential and fill my bucket so I can have the love and patience it takes to be a mom and home school here.
It seems my life has always been about balancing climbing with motherhood and although I know there was a time when Zane was not around, I just can’t remember it anymore. I love being Zane’s mom and have no desire to trade lives with the 20 something climber living out of the back of their truck. I just wish there were more people out there like me! I meet so many women who have given up climbing to be a mom. While their husbands are off on climbing trips they are content to stay home with the kids, finding other physical and emotional outlets. My life would definitely be easier if going to the gym and scrap booking filled my bucket. In reality it takes months of planning and juggling for my husband and I to have one big adventure together each summer, a week in Elephants Perch, La Esfinge in Peru, Big Walls in Yosemite, attempting 3 peaks in a day in Rocky Mountain National Park. I guess I can’t complain, and I don’t. Most moms who climb don’t get to have these adventures and for me they are extra special because I have worked so hard to get them. It’s kind of like the feeling you’d get when you skipped school as a kid. The memories of those trips put a smile on my face and fill my heart when I’m frustrated with parenting and everyday life. My big adventures are why I can’t stop being a climber and I listen longingly when other women talk about first ascents in far away countries, knowing all the while that those experiences are at least 5 or 6 years away for me.
I feel so blessed to be living the life I am, but I’m also constantly concerned about the effect my lifestyle will have on my son. I’m happy we choose to live our life a bit differently and want our lives to be an example to Zane. Even more than academics, I hope to teach him honesty, responsibility and how to just be happy in life. I want him to know the satisfaction and joy of working hard and digging deep to achieve a goal. I know he misses his friends in Ouray and part of him longs for “normal” life, complete with TV sitcoms and McDonalds. He is doing well here though. Learning and growing like me. When I watch him socialize with the other climbers and hear their comments about what a great kid he his I’m proud of him and proud of me. I’m doing it, and doing it well. I’m happy and raising a great kid, balancing the two things I love most; being a mom and climbing.