A recent story in my local paper told of a young family whose raft flipped on the Colorado River east of Moab, Utah. The water temperature was in the 50s, and they were forced to “swim” through a minor rapid. They barely made it. The family included the mother, father and two children, ages 3 years and 11 months. They all wore life vests.
After being rescued and treated for hypothermia, the mother stated, “That’s just what we do. We don’t stop living because we have kids.” The couple estimates they’ve rafted the same stretch uneventfully 15 or 20 times.
What do you think of this family’s decision to take babies along on a raft trip through mild rapids during cold-water season?
I’m not going to bash this family the way some have. I agree with one reader who commented that we risk our children’s lives every time we take them out in a car. However, I’d like to point out what could have been a fatal flaw in the couple’s thinking.
I could be totally wrong, but it sounds like this couple believed they had two choices:
1. Continue rafting in the same manner they had before having children, or
2. Stop rafting altogether.
This is known as black-and-white thinking. Any time you’re making a decision between two options and believe those to be your only choices, you’re guilty of black-and-white thinking, and chances are excellent that there are some “gray” alternatives you haven’t considered.
Here are just a few alternatives I could have suggested for this family:
1. Continue rafting, but limit yourself to water temperatures that aren’t likely to produce hypothermia.
2. Continue rafting as a couple and have someone babysit until the kids are old enough to wear wet suits and swim.
3. Continue rafting and take the babies, even when the water is cold, but limit yourself to flat water. The Colorado River just below where they flipped is so flat you’d have a hard time forcing a boat over.
4. Continue rafting and take the babies, even when the water is cold, but invite some extra adults along for added safety.
I’m sure you can think of some other possibilities that would have been less risky for this family but still preserved their adventurous lifestyle.
Keep this story in mind the next time you’re feeling conflicted about what to do. Have you really considered all of your options?
Ask people in your support network if they can think of creative alternatives that haven’t occurred to you. There may be a possibility that will allow you to have what you want with less sacrifice than you may realize.
When have you fallen into black-and-white thinking? Do you know any creative ways to generate more alternatives? Please share your experiences with us by leaving a comment.
