What Mom Sees Toddler Doing for His Teddy on Hike Makes It All ‘Worth It’

A mom-of-two on a family hike captured a heartwarming moment that made the challenges of taking their two young kids on the trip “worth it.”

Samantha Cieslinski, who lives with her husband Mark and their two children, Willow and Parker, just outside of Philadelphia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, says her family strives to embrace the great outdoors. “We are an active family who loves being outside, traveling, and just experiencing the fun of life,” Cieslinski told Newsweek.

Hikes are a great way to combine quality family time with regular physical activity. In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services‘ Community Preventive Services Task Force recommended family based interventions as a means to not only increase physical activity in children but strengthen family support networks.

Hikes provide an opportunity to see the great outdoors and establish healthy routines, whether they be physical or mental. However, parents like Cieslinski know that establishing these habits from a young age involves a unique set of challenges.

“Traveling with toddlers is such a scary thing in regards to all of the ‘what ifs,'” she explained. “You can plan and pack and hope, but they have their own agenda and sometimes you have to reframe what your idea of traveling looks like with toddlers and embrace the slow down and chaos of the experience.”

However, Cieslinski’s experience has helped her gain some important perspective in this regard. “When my kids were little, someone gave me great advice that the best place to travel with kids is wherever kids are,” she said. “That was really helpful to change my mindset when going places-if kids are there, you can bring kids-it will just look differently than pre-kids.”

Cieslinski said Willow and Parker have taken in “every state on the east coast” in their short lives already and they tend to do one or two major hiking trips a year.

The most recent of these saw the family head to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. It’s a place of some significance to their son Parker because it’s where he first met his beloved cuddly toy, Mr Foxy.

“We have been to the Smoky Mountains before and fell in love with a little store called Harper Bros in Wears Valley-which is where we found the Fox,” she said. ” He never really had a stuffed animal he loved, but he saw this one and started hugging it immediately. Since then, he goes wherever we go!”

It was during a return visit to the Smoky Mountains and a hike up The Little River Trail, which had been recommended to them as one that is great for kids, that Cieslinski captured an adorable interaction on camera between Parker and his cuddly toy.

Strapped securely to his dad’s back, Parker was holding Mr Foxy aloft ensuring he was getting “all the best hiking views” as they walked along the trail. “I was walking with my daughter and my husband was up a little further with my son and I saw the moment and I just knew I wanted to capture it,” Cieslinski said.

Writing alongside the resulting video of the moment, which was uploaded to TikTok under the handle therunningwinemom_, Cieslinski reflected that: “Traveling with toddlers is HARD-but moments like this make everything worth it.”

“There are so many moments that we experience with our kids that I never want to forget and that is one of those times,” she said. “The joy toddlers find in the smallest of things is one of the best parts of being a parent.”

The clip has gone viral, amassing over 150,000 views. Cieslinski shared it in the hope that it reminds parents and those with a love of the outdoors alike to “soak in the little moments around you.”

“Traveling with kids is chaotic, but there are so many beautiful experiences woven into the chaos,” she said. “I hope that stressing the importance of nature and the outdoors at a young age to our children will be ingrained in them forever and shape the outlook that a simple walk in the woods can help bring a feeling of calm and happiness.”