Leave Those "Be Careful" Mom Instincts on the Asphalt

The moment I found out I was pregnant over fifteen years ago the mom instincts kicked in. There is debate whether this is instinctive or learned. I believe it's a little bit of both but for the most part instincts just come natural. Especially those "Be Careful - Cautious" mom ones -- well with me anyways.  As a mom with boys I find myself in protective instinct mode quite a bit. It's like the Mother Bear syndrome.  Now, when I take my Jeep to the dirt, mud and rocks I need to find that switch to turn off those instincts. 

Since I got back from Rausch Creek on Sunday I have been spending many hours watching all the video that was taken. I had a dashboard camera recording quite a few of the obstacles that our awesome instructor Kyle took us through. There were also some videos my spectacular co-pilot took. 

First -- pictures and videos don't do the trails justice. They don't look nearly as intense as they are when you are in your Jeep. Second -- sometimes obstacles look difficult when actually they are quite easy. Then the opposite can occur -- where a easy obstacle can be a little more difficult than expected. This happened to me near the end of our day on Sunday.

Check out this video. The lady in her Stock Sport in front of me took the hill a little to slowly. I could even see it as she rolled up the hill. So I knew I had to gun it before I even started up the hill.

But maybe the obstacle isn't really that difficult. Maybe my "Be Careful - Cautious" Mom instincts were still in the "on" mode. In this video you can see I gave my "itty bitty" Stock Jeep lots of power at the bottom of the hill. Which all day my co-pilot Amanda would comment on my lead foot. So I had every confidence that I would make it up and over the hill. 

But wait.... Right at the very end I let up. Even Kyle commented I let up a hair too soon. I couldn't figure out why until I watched the video a day later. It was that mommy instinct in me kicking in. 

First of all, who in their right mind stands anywhere near a Jeep being driven at full force up a muddy embankment. Fellow Jeepers do -- that's who. We all have the need to shoot videos and take picture of our beloved Jeeps. But -- as a mom -- sub-consciously my brain registered -- slow down so you don't hit those poor people standing carelessly in front of your powerful Jeep barrelling up the hill.

So there you go. I will need to leave the "Be Careful - Cautious" Mom instincts on the asphalt. A little meditation preparation will need to be made on my part to learn to turn it all off and just go "Momma Beast Mode" on the trails. 

There is one thing I noticed in all the videos. Every time I let up on the power there was always a bystander in my view. Hmmm...



My other question now is what were those men snickering about? I'm quite sure they were making fun of the fact that a girl didn't make it up the hill. What do you think?  Actually the first three Jeeps didn't make it up the hill.

Check out all my other Two Moms and a Jeep videos on my You Tube Channel.  I'm in the process of uploading several more as well.    

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