I have 2 daughters that are the ages of 9 and 13; we have been camping for 4 years now and I have had the girls involved from the get-go on just about every aspect from hitching, leveling, blocking, un-hitching, setting up the camper and site, tearing down the camper and site as well as moving the pickup and now the pickup and camper... I have even taught them to grease the hubs, torque the lugs and inspect the tires and pressures. They are a sponge for learning!!! I know without a shadow of a doubt that my girls could get the camper ready to move or store without me if something happened I was not able...
My 13 year old is taller than my wife now and I have been teaching her to drive the pickup and camper... We turn off the main highway when storing our camper on the farm and have to drive about 2 miles and maneuver turns and gravel road conditions; sometimes not very good road conditions. She is getting very, very good at using her mirrors and keeping track of her surroundings. we are going to work on backing into the shed very soon. It takes a lot of patients sometimes to let them try and try again to figure out something but I feel it will be something that will last them a lifetime... They are learning that when we work, we work smart not hard, when we play, we play hard!!!
I grew up on a farm and was operating very large equipment at a very young age and I was very good with it... I could operate any tractor & implements, run the grain elevator, maintenance equipment with the best of them... My kids won't get the opportunities that I did on the farm to learn responsibility but RVing is a way they can!!! I am very proud of them and wanted to share... Someday when I am old and crippled I will have 2 very well trained girls to haul my old butt around camping...
Our 2 boys are older than your girls, but they have been driving our vehicles since they were tall enough to to see over the steering wheel.
We were able to let them drive around job sites we would be on. They also learned to operate various machinery too. My 18 year just recently started pulling our camper. He was a little intimidated but took it easy and got comfortable with it. My oldest one has pulled our camper since we first got it last year. Since we bought it at auction last March, he and my DH went to Alabama to get it and my DS drove it home.
He is more confident and it definitely benefited both of them to start early as you are doing.
2005 Keystone Springdale
1 Hubby
2 boys 20 & 19
2 sweet dogs, spoiled rotten
Isabella our 16 year old, we miss you!
Sara our GS who is sorely missed
A new grandbaby puppy GS, she is a sweety
I started my two girls and my boy driving when they were about 12 and never regreted it. My son started flying when he was 12 and by 13 was a competent pilot---flew from So Cal to Cabo many times before he was 15.
North Idaho
2008 Heartland Big Horn 3400RL fifth wheel
2007 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 5.9 Cummins
Rob you raised a good point as to how do we teach our kids what we learned due to the position we were born into as a kid. Caring for the animals and operating/servicing equipment was not a subject of debate but just something that had to be done to eat and even at the age of 3-4 we understood that well and wanted to do our part.
As many readers know we got our MH at the request of the kids last year (age 9 at the time) just like the rabbits. The cats and dogs just kind of show up where we live. I am so thankful due to warmer weather we were able to move the rabbit hutches into the edge of the woods so not trays are requires. As far as the MH goes our first 9 months of ownership has been interesting in my view as some who read here know better than they may wish to know.
At the time I was growing up I did not understand what my dad was giving me by example. It was only when I left home and understood how many guys could do nothing for themselves that it hit me. The rabbits, dogs and cats have taught our kids what happens when we do not care well for animals. Breeding rabbits covers about 90% of the sex education requirements as well because they trigger a lot of questions.
The 1993 MH on a 1992 P30 chassis has been great for teaching home and auto repair to the kids and more than I meant some days. Kids are truly sponges. My son has been doing the shore power switch thing for a while now. The daughter is best a pre launch check list and rides our cases hard on the subject and often does the last walk around. The son has removed and replaced the spark plugs and together all three of us pulled the distributor and replaced the pick up coil and put on a new set of spark plug wires for an example. With my physical limitations there is no way I could have properly address our roof leaks we discovered when it finally started raining last fall. I could go on and on.
The point is when something breaks our kids are looking for a solution and not a phone number. If I can past this on from my late father to them and help them get a formal education I will feel good about them facing life and all the unknowns that is sure to bring.
Well my kids are not driving yet... But they do handle all the jacks, wheel chocks, wheel locks, leveling the trailer. Dumping the tanks, plugging it in. And My favorite they help us wash it! My youngest has started to help guide Dad to back up and hitch up. Its great!
I always helped when I was younger. Camping is a great escape, not just for us, but for them too. Letting them help teaches them and lets them really feel like they are important.
2006 Hornet 28BHDS-Bunk House, Dual Slides
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 HD
5.7L Hemi, Factory Towing Package
Reese Brake Controller, WD Hitch and Sway Bar
When our two children were pre-16, (a girl and a boy) they got excited about the advent of driving a car. In addition to taking Driver's Ed, I insisted that they LEARN three things:
Change the oil and oil filter
Maintain tires (check tread, change a "flat", etc.) and check tire pressure -- regularly
Check and maintain the fluid level in the battery
I conclude that doing those three things will eliminate 95% of vehicle problems.
Oh yeah ... they also had to learn how to wash and wax a car. I volunteered the use of my car for this procedure.
Kids are EAGER to learn ... as the original post said ... driving, leveling, hooking up, setting up camp, etc. ... they just want to be included.
I wish we had the kind of open spaces here in PA that you do in NE, ID, etc. My kids are involved in every facet of setting up and operating the TT except for the driving. More on that in a sec.
They know that if everybody pitches in we can get the set up/tear down done faster and get on to whatever the plan calls for next. For that and other reasons we function more as a "family" than other families we know.
My DD is on her learner's permit. The first time I took her out to drive we took the Dodge TV in this signature, not the wife's riceburner. I figure if she can handle a full-size van on the road everything else will be a piece of cake. Do I plan to let her take a stab at pulling the TT? You bet. There is a great corporate parking lot about a mile from here that is absolutely deserted on Sundays. She doesn't know it yet..........
My Dad made our first MH from an old bread truck in the late 50's. He used marine parts-only thing available at that time. We went all over the country, and Mexico for a couple years. I've been rv'ing ever since. Although I learned alot from that experience, I learned even more from my parents lessons about financial matters, as they had both been through the Great Depression, and they never spent money unless they were also saving some. The only thing mortgaged was their house, not their rv's or other vehicles. IMO Financial knowledge and experience is golden for our children.
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Kids are truly sponges. My son has been doing the shore power switch thing for a while now. The daughter is best a pre launch check list and rides our cases hard on the subject and often does the last walk around. The son has removed and replaced the spark plugs and together all three of us pulled the distributor and replaced the pick up coil and put on a new set of spark plug wires for an example. With my physical limitations there is no way I could have properly address our roof leaks we discovered when it finally started raining last fall. I could go on and on.
