March 20 spring equinox 2021

It’s official, spring is here. Today at Big White we had every season of the year; except summer. according to the calendar, today was the first day of spring. 

My friend told me how this was a sad day for him, the days were now longer and ski season was that much closer to being over. The change of season approaches faster and faster every year in which I live on this wondrous planet circling the sun.

For my daughter, not so much. Time for her ticks along in slow agonizing moments. To her, the seasons and time itself passes slowly. It is strange how the sensation of time and the desire to make the most of it increases proportionately to the less time a person has left. At fifteen my young ball of hormones and anxiety has no sense of urgency.

Except when it comes to the wifi.

I had to threaten her that I would cut off the wifi if she didn’t come skiing with me. How crazy is it that I have a fifteen-year-old girl that would rather sit in her room on tiktok and snapchat than get outside and ski on a blue-bird day? To me, it’s crazy, to today’s youth; not so much.

Apparently, a lot of kids are more interested in their technological marvel than they are in the marvel of sliding down a ski run on snow. I get that it is cold, but man when our generation was kids we had no choice but to get outside and live. Our phone had to be dialed, and if you messed up the number you had to start again. The new phones in the hands of our youth finish the number for them and they don’t have to think or remember anything.

What kind of generation is being created by this mass use of technology.

Our society has rules governing access to addictive materials by youth. Kids are not allowed to smoke, they are not allowed to drink and they sure as hell are not supposed to do drugs. Why is it that when they reach the age of ten or even younger we hand them the most addictive device ever created by humankind? And there are no rules, it is a free-for-all. As parents, we feel out of control.

We feel lost.

And Covid is not helping curb the addiction and appetite for technology. Our kids are told to keep apart, so the only connection many of them have is that minicomputer in their hands. Every generation pushes boundaries. How far can these boundaries go before a reckoning?

How long will be the recovery… Will we recover at all? Or is this part of the so-called ‘new normal’…

It’s not just our youth who has been hijacked by the brain-sucking disease that comes with our societal dependence on smartphones. Just look around the restaurant, bus stop, or even the street corner on a red light. So many people grasp the knowledge of the world in their hands, and they won’t let go.

It was after 1 pm every day except today before I could get my beautiful kid to put her phone down long enough to come skiing. I felt sad having to force my kid to come outside, to come ski. It’s sad for a parent to feel like they need to force their kid to do something fun.

I was in the line for the Bullet Chair and my kid was beside me, smiling and having fun. I saw a friend in line ahead of me. He has a daughter about the same age as mine, so I asked him where she was. The answer I got was not the one I wanted.

She hasn’t skied yet this year. His teenager has given up on skiing. I admit it has been tough getting Marijke out the door and on the slopes. At least she gets out…

Two hours a day is more than my friend was getting; I guess I should be happy with that.

When did we become happy with just enough? When did our kids decide life was on a screen. When, and more importantly why?

I don’t have the answers to the questions haunting my mind. I do have a great kid that is struggling with being a teenager in the coronaverse. As the days keep getting longer and the nights are shorter I will do my best to guide her, to get her out on the slopes with me. I try to understand that much of her world revolves around a piece of tech that fits in the palm of her hand. The entire knowledge of the world is right there at her fingertips. 

The seasons continue to change and time flies. We connected on the chair lift passing over our mountain paradise. My fifteen-year-old daughter and I soaked in the view of the slopes below us. I felt happy in those moments knowing that I got her away from the device for a short time. I hope when she’s older she can take the memories we have built up and cherish them.

Time continues to march by us. I fight on for moments with my daughter and do my best to make the most of every second. With every breath and every turn on the slopes, there is a connection built that cannot be torn away.

In six months when time is equal on both sides again I will be there holding anxious hope for my daughter. I hold out tentative hope for the world she will inherit. I hope she will want to ski with me some more…