Once upon a time, I used to create chaos in my life on my own

There actually was a time I used to create chaos in my life on my own. And I was good at it. I am not alone now. I love climbing and I love my children and that increases the degree of chaos significantly. Every visit to a gym or a climbing area has become a quest. Our nearest gym isn't a modern venue but rather is a kind of Tyrolean keller with an astonishing mountain view. One has to be really psyched to train there. And I like it. I like its long-term projects and the loneliness of climbing alone, but now there are at least two of us in the gym every time I climb. 

Once upon a time during holidays, I came there with two kids being already tired and hungry, trying to calm them both down. At this point, it seems to me that I am not able to want anything. But once I start climbing I get that feeling that outweighs all efforts to get there. Even if in the end it is not so much of climbing. 

And it also happens that I can come early in the morning only with the baby who calmly plays or stays on the soft mat near a soft cube. And I have all time in the world for climbing but I am almost blacking out due to the lack of sleep. So I climb, a little bit, just to move around and get on going. Just to not injure myself, which is my priority.

Sometimes it feels like climbing. You leisurely have breakfast and get ready. Then you convince your primary schooler that today is your turn to have fun and you want to go to the gym. When you get there, he goes to the playground. The baby falls asleep for a while, and you climb your 6c project, which actually is a big deal in the gym with a year-long lasting route setting. 

The long story short, the focus is the key that helps navigate in this chaos. As well as, avoiding unnecessary pressure. I failed the last with the first baby. I felt like I had to train whenever I had a free minute. Then I felt like I didn’t want anything at all. Then I got tired, injured, sick and didn’t want anything even more. I drank a lot of coffee with treats to replenish my battery but it didn’t work. I need something more complicated and fulfilling in order to do so. Now I try to find my balance in a greater degree of chaos. And I’ve become better at it.

Here are some tips on how to climb with kids:

1. Keep the main focus, which should shrink to one thing, climbing a little bit and seeing how it goes.

2. Have a plan for what to do, especially for warming up. It’s tempting to skip this part, but you can also consider it as a part of training with some specific focus and some exercises. The key is to stay injury-free as best as you can. It’s easy to follow some structure when you get constantly distracted and your inner voice is overwhelmed with all the screams and cries from the outside.

3. It’s better to pack your things beforehand. It’s better to pack your things at all. You can climb without chalk because there are plenty of it on holds. You can climb even without your climbing shoes, turning it into the practice of arm-climbing or mastering your technique.

4. Don’t forget to pack snacks and toys for kids. It’s even more important. However, you can turn anything into a toy: a chalk bag, a climbing shoe, some training equipment etc.

5. You can go on with whatever you haven’t forgotten to pack. 

6. Choose a time when there is no one in the gym or cooperate with your friends or other parents. 

7. Don’t be upset when nothing is going according to your plan. Maybe you just need a little more rest. Don’t  push yourself, Actually, it is the time when we become stronger!