“Where do they get all that energy?!” my mom would ask my dad, referring to my brother, sisters and I when we were young kids.   I didn’t catch the full meaning  till I had my own kids and then I heard myself ask the same thing.

The roles reversed when we decided to take our family world trip.  Call it a blessed infusion of energy, a burst of enthusiasm or just the knowledge that we had bitten off a huge footprint to cover and schedule to maintain.  We were all infused and enthused!

Our day would start with rigorous exercise for each Hirn. Road School began with PE:  Physical Education to some, Physical Exhaustion for others.  Go ahead, call me Drill Sergeant.  You’re not the first.

Our trip would include plenty of walking, carrying, keeping up and waiting and I knew we needed stamina to stay sharp, alert and energized.    Ron and I told the guys to make the best use of their down time, to rest when they could and ‘cop a squat’ wherever possible.  Tyler perfected the position.“Conserve your energy,” ”pace yourselves,” we told them.    And sometimes they chose the craziest places to catch up on rest.    9,999 rooms in the Forbidden City had sapped their energy.But did our kids ever complain?   What do you think?  They learned to complain creatively, always supplying some sort of show and tell to support their abuse claim.    Ouch.  

But hangnail, stubbed toe, blisters or cuts, we kept right on moving.  And in a moment of role reversal, as they rehearsed their whines,  I’m certain they looked at their old mom and dad and asked each other:  “Where do they get all that energy?”

Dawn