Hudson: fun ship cruise director

Hudson and I boarded a jet plane last week. Well, it wasn’t a jet, but it was a plane. Anyway…I was pretty excited to spend a week alone with him. I was also nervous, anxious, giddy, and a whole host of other emotions knowing he had the Classical Conversations National Memory Master competition ahead.

He worked so hard preparing…so, so very hard. Months (really years) of preparation and all the sudden we were off.

On the morning of the competition, I took him to the back of the boat before the competition started (it was on a cruise ship). I told him sometimes we focus so much on where we are headed and what we are striving towards, we forget to appreciate and celebrate the road we traveled to get there. We talked about how the process of getting to the competition developed grit, perseverance, diligence, and ownership of his own learning in him. Whatever happened later in the morning would just be a small part of this story.

A few hours later, we both shed tears and he didn’t make it as far as he hoped in the competition, but the process shaped him in beautiful ways that I am only beginning to truly see.

The competition took place on a 3 day cruise. The first day was the competition and the last two days Hudson took full advantage of cruise life. Let’s take a moment to talk about an introvert on a cruise ship. Everyone asks if I had fun and that is a hard question in some ways. I was just talking to my brother-in-law this weekend about how my ideal trip is about as opposite of a cruise as one can get.

Below are two pictures: a dance party on the ship and a remote Chinese village. The first photo is everything that makes me hyperventilate and get a massive headache. The second – sweet wonderful combination of adventure, unknown, and a hint of danger. Chris and I carried backpacks filled with supplies for our family of 7 for 2 weeks while we explored remote areas of China and figured out a new adventure each day. I’ll let you guess which I prefer!

Back to the cruise. As an introvert, I realized 5 minutes after stepping foot on the ship I had a continual decision to make. I could choose fun or I could choose to focus on the opposite. It is so easy to miss out on really incredible experiences in life because we focus on what they are not or the negative things that they are. Thankfully, the large screen reminded me every few minutes that I had decision to make. No one could decide for me what my experience on a cruise ship would be. That choice, introvert or not, was up to me.

I chose fun. Choosing fun for me meant letting Hudson take the lead the whole trip. I’m pretty sure he could be a fun director on a cruise ship one day and that he has an inhuman ability to consume massive amounts of frozen yogurt. It took all of 5 minutes for him to make friends with the other competitors and before I knew it they had a little tribe running around the boat. When all the people and constant music drained me – it completely invigorated him. This kid thrives on people, high energy, activity, more of everything. The cruise life suited him quite perfectly and I soaked up the joy of watching how much fun he had. On the formal night I told him the natural lighting outside would make for a much better photo than the dimly lit foyer where the photographer had a flash set up. I was right.One of the things I love most about that photo is how it so accurately depicts our differing experiences on a cruise ship! Opposites in so many ways, but smiling the same.

I joked with him one night that we weren’t really getting any one-on-one time because he was constantly with the other boys. He laughed and reminded me we got 8 hours alone every day – while we were sleeping. Goofball. I may have watched him from a distance most of the trip, but the slow moments we did get were so sweet to this momma’s soul. And that picture of the two of us – it will be framed for sure!

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