Adventure Guides Program Gives Fathers Creative New Ways to Bond With Their Kids

Adventure Guides Program Gives Fathers Creative New Ways to Bond With Their Kids

Ah, those golden “middle years” of fatherhood!

Diaper-changing and the Terrible Twos are thankfully in the past, and the bumpy road of adolescence is still years away. For a brief, fleeting moment, you’re the center of your kids’ lives. They want to spend all their time with you, and they’re increasingly receptive to new adventures and expanding their horizons, as long as you’re close by.

Don’t waste that precious window of opportunity. The YMCA’s Adventure Guides program is designed for parents to get the most out of their relationships with their children. Spending well-planned one-on-one time with them now will nurture a strong bond of trust and create memories that will last several lifetimes – yours and theirs.

Tom Johnson of Mission Viejo was looking for just such an opportunity for his three kids in 2012. “I wanted to find an organization that would allow me to spend quality time with my 5-year-old triplets, Rachel, Rebecca, and Ryan … I remembered my time in the Indian Guides (as a kid) through the YMCA.”

Those happy memories prompted Johnson to contact his local “Y” and sign up for the successor to the Indian Guides program, Adventures Guides. “I had no idea we were about to get on the ride of our lives,” he admits.

The Johnsons’ 120-plus adventures over the last six years have included some things that might deter more fainted-hearted souls: camping in every conceivable kind of weather, from 100-degree heat to 14 degrees below freezing; scrambling up rock faces and careening down zip lines; dealing with waves of rain and snow; sleeping in a museum and waking up to the icy stare of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

They’ve been richly rewarded by their experiences. A couple of Tom’s favorite Adventure Guides outings: