Just do it!

A couple of days ago, me, my three-year-old son and my dog decided to put up a tent and spend the night outdoors. Easily the best decision this year. We simply put up the tent on our backyard. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. I had the best nights sleep in a long time. It is amazing how much the environment affects your sleep. The sound of clashing waves paired with singing birds is as natural as it gets. Combined with the sunset and sunrise you have your alarm clock figured out as well. I haven’t felt more alive in ages.

There is one important “note to self” to remember next time we decide to go camping. Prepare the tent a couple of hours before bedtime… The depleted patience of a tired three-year-old is a force of nature to be reckoned with. He had a lot of fun building the tent, but when we were finished all hell broke loose. He was determined that we did NOT need sleeping bags or underlays, or even pillows. My calm explanation that it is probably wise to not sleep completely exposed fell on deaf ears. Actually, this was the angriest I have seen him yet. But also, probably the most tired as well. I had to get a little assistance from my wife in the final preparations of the tent, while the little guy screamed his lungs out. The chaotic situation finally resulted in a potential Guiness World Record regarding the slowest telt erection in history.

Jussi, my chocolate lab, was agitated by the screaming. Elis refused to get cozy in the sleeping bag and the excellent underlay I had prepared. He had decided to sleep on the hardest surface in the tent, without pillow or cover. Okay, fine, I said, and then he finally started to calm down. And get cold because the sun was setting, ha-ha. Before long, He moved to a more comfortable, pulled a cover over himself and the first thing he asked was “Dad, can I have a pillow”. I laughed uncontrollably, because we had just finished an hour-long fight where the main point was not that he refused to have a pillow – but the fact that I had put pillows and blankets at all in the tent. THAT was his issue. You can’t do anything about it but laugh.

By now, Jussi had entered Labrador sleep mode and was like a band-aid next to me. An excellent heat source as well, I might add. Elis now came full circle with his temper tantrum and went through an emotional worm-hole to the other side and changed into the most happy, hilarious and wonderful three-year-old guy you can imagine. He explained to me how amazing it was that we had built or own little “hut” from cloth and now we were going to sleep in it. And then he executed a flawless “Predator handshake”, when Arnie meets Dylan and exclaims “You son of a bitch”. I laughed so hard I could hardly go to sleep. Moments thereafter, he was sleeping as good as you can only do in a tent. We had the opening pointing towards the ocean, with an amazing view, right were the sun would soon rise in a couple of hours. I reached out and closed the “door” to about 90% to keep a bit more warmth inside. I had brought a book I was planning on reading but I never came that far before I joined the other two.

In the middle of the night, I awoke from something moving and noticed that Elis had kicked away his whole cover and was lying in a fetus position, obviously very cold. But still sleeping. I put him next to me, covered him up really good with an extra blanket and he moved very close to me – the heat source – and went back to proper sleep. My mind was clean. There were no thoughts about anything else than the present. It is the definition of love and life. Don’t hesitate if you have a gut feeling that you should do something silly like sleeping in a tent in the backyard. Just do it! They grow up so fast. And I can honestly say that I will never forget this experience as long as I live. One of the best memories I have, and without a doubt the pinnacle of the summer of 2022.

In the morning, we Jussi decided that sleeping time was over and entered canine alarm clock mode. There is no sleeping after that setting has been engaged. He wanted to go out, and poked on he mosquito net with his claws, effectively ripping three holes that will be a major problem next time we decide to go camping. Very frustrating, but I choose to be grateful instead. I have never slept with a dog in a tent before, and this was a two decades old Biltema tent for like 20 EUR, so no big loss there. Had it been a high-quality camping tent, I would have been somewhat sadder… It is better to look at it as a lesson. Next time I go camping with my dog/dogs I must figure something out so that they leave the mosquito net alone. A good lesson.

I look forward to the next camping trip to our backyard.