Caching with kids

[+HedgeMage]

I finally ordered a gpsr for my 6yo and I; it should arrive soon. As I get ready to start geocaching with LF, I'm trying to decide whether to make him an account and log our finds for both of us, or to just log on my account and consider it a family log.

 

Points in favor of one log:

• Much less work for me.
  
• I'm not sure if LF will be able to log any member-only finds, because I intend to make only mine a paid account.
  
• Possibly less frustrating for LF -- he doesn't yet have the attention span to log many caches if we have a big weekend or something.
  

Points in favor of dual logs:

• Good writing practice for LF
  
• If we're still caching as LF gets older, I'm sure he'll want his own account, and hate to look like a newbie when he's been caching for years.
  

Thoughts?

 

--Susan

[+mfamilee]

We are family of 3 with just one account for the simple reason it's easier.

 

I've read about lots of cachers who do create accounts for their children though... it's simply up to you and if you think your 6 year old is up to it. It could very easily equal double work for you, but at the same time it could be fun & educational for your child. Like you said... pros & cons either way.

 

Decisions, decisions...

[+BlueDeuce]

My 7 and 12 year old each have their own account. (I get the emails)

[+The Blorenges]

I would say let your youngster have his own account if, and when, he asks if he can have one. At that time make him understand that it's his responsibilty to do the logs although, naturally, you will help him to do them when he starts off.

 

If he then loses interest after the first dozen I would suggest that you don't continue logging on his behalf: It's not that I'm a real meanie Mum but I've heard too many parents complain that they have to do two, or three, extra logs every time because their children "can't be bothered" any more.

 

MrsB

[+whistler & co.]

We started with a family account, then added one for each of the kids. I backlogged every cache for them along these lines "Found as part of Whistler & Co., now logging under my own account." with the correct date of our visit. Now our older son (who is only a very sporadic cacher) logs his own, and I write the logs for our younger son as he tells me what to write (he's seven years old and for him to type out logs on his own would take forever). They also have hides under their own accounts, though not as many as we do under our main account. To keep track of all our hides in order, I use our Family Caching Geocoin and dip it into each cache we hide under any of the three accounts. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not really that much more! Plus, it's fun!

 

P.S. Our youngest has about 1900 finds...we're only behind on his logs by one caching day.

 

Edited to add: If your primary concern is just to keep a record and numeric count of your child's visits, you can simply log each of his finds with "Found with HedgeMage. TFTC" and leave it at that. Not too much more work there.

[+whistler & co.]

(BIZARRE DOUBLE POST!)

Edited April 23, 2009 by whistler & co.

[+tennisgirl42]

Right now, we just log under my account (since I'm pretty new). I'll see if they stay interested before they get accounts. I'm the one in the family that's all excited about 'em anyway! lol!

[+CanadaKate]

I have my own account -- CanadaKate --- and the rest of the family has an account --- Team_BG. I set it up that way because I cache without the rest of the family but (so far at least) the rest of the family doesn't cache without me. So I have a record of all my caches under my account and finds logged to Team_BG may have been found by any one of the other family members.

 

Sometimes I write the logs for my kids and spouse. Other times, they do it themselves or dicate while I type. The latter are the logs that say things like "I found the cache and my mom didn't have a clue where it was."

[Andronicus]

My 8year old dauter has her own account, but my 3year old son and 1year old dauter don't. She has one because she hid a cache and wanted to own it herself.

 

The down side of this is that on my first (and so far only) FTF attempt, she beat me to it. So I still have no FTF, and she has one.

[+StarBrand]

About half of my finds are with some combination of my 2 boys and my wife. We always just use the one account. As my boys get older - I am sure they will want thier own accounts but I will leave that up to them to handle.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Thoughts?...

 

My family logged as themselves. I never forced it. The women never ever logged. The guys did, but eventually my son dropped out and doesn't log.

 

Keep it fun. Forced logging for kids isn't fun. It's enough for you to log as either you, or "The Family". If you want your kids to be able to come back and log if they ever get interested you can put a note in your Family Log which members were with you on the find. Then they can go back later and catch up.

 

Naturally you may want to use their caching nickname and perhaps even set up accounts to match to give them the option and hold the name. Though there is always the chance that when they do get older they may outgrow the 'kid' name. That's hard to predict.

[+NasheCache]

We have five children and we log all finds under one account. We're a family, not individual cachers... at least, not at this point.

 

I've read many logs where a particular older child has obviously just started his own account and is going through his family's previous finds and logging them for himself. It's somewhat annoying to read "I'm logging this because I have my own account now" over and over on the various logs.

 

IMO, if you are going to claim a previous group find as one of your own, at least use your own words to describe what it was like to make that find.

[+natenrose]

just one for our family. our kids range from 7 months to 7 years.

[+skisidedown]

My kids and I usually cache together, so for now I do the logging on my account, and I make sure to note in the logs which of the group was actually there - my caching tends to be opportunistic in nature so they are not always with me.

 

When they are ready to get the coordinates themselves and do the logging themselves, they can have their own accounts, and they will have to go back through a few logs to see which caches they were present for. If they don't want to do that, then they don't have to.

 

Skisidedown

[+whistler & co.]

We have five children and we log all finds under one account. We're a family, not individual cachers... at least, not at this point.

 

I've read many logs where a particular older child has obviously just started his own account and is going through his family's previous finds and logging them for himself. It's somewhat annoying to read "I'm logging this because I have my own account now" over and over on the various logs.

 

IMO, if you are going to claim a previous group find as one of your own, at least use your own words to describe what it was like to make that find.

 

That's not always feasible when you're backlogging a few hundred finds! I don't fnd those long any more annoying than any other cookie cutter logs. "Easy find, TNLNSL/TFTC" anyone? Even veteran cachers sometimes write logs that say absolutely nothing just in order to keep the find count, and I don't see backlogs to reflect name changes or additional accounts as any different. By now, I am accustomed to simply skipping that type of one-liner when I am reading cache logs and focusing only on the longer ones.

[+pebrswel]

I was thinking of asking this question myself, just to see what other people are doing. My take on it is we use one account. My 9 year old loves to cache but right now does not care about smileys or logs, only the hunt and occasional treasure. I also have 2 older boys who only go for the more difficult terrain types.

 

If they ever want their own accounts, they probably would not log old finds. I think they would want to find them again on their own. I would actually look forward to going back with them.

[+mdplayers]

We only have one account. My son isn't really interested in caching, he just goes along to get along. My Hubby and I usually cache as a team. Each of us has probably found around 5 caches without the other.

[+DiamondDaveG]

My 7 and 12 year old each have their own account. (I get the emails)

 

Same here except mine are 14 & 12. We decided on seperate accounts for each person because the make up of the group changes all the time. Sometimes I am by myself, sometimes I am with one kid, sometimes the other, etc.

 

This way we can easily see who has found which ones instead of showing 130 'group' finds but one kid has found only 56 of them and the other has found 42 while I have found all 130.

[+Lydford Locators]

We log under one caching name and in our early caching days that worked fine. We didn't cache much and Mrs Locator did the majority of the caching with the rest of the family joining her for weekend caching.

 

But now some 2800 finds later she has an injury which means that sometimes she's not with the rest of the team. We continue to log as a family but wish we had individual identities. It doesn't happen very often, but it feels like we're "cheating" in some way. Can't face going back through those 2800 finds adding extra name(s), so although it's not perfect, it'll just have to do.

Edited April 23, 2009 by Lydford Locators

[+NasheCache]

IMO, if you are going to claim a previous group find as one of your own, at least use your own words to describe what it was like to make that find.

 

That's not always feasible when you're backlogging a few hundred finds!

I understand what you mean but backlogging a few hundred finds is not something that I understand doing. Just start fresh, ya know? You made those first few hundred finds as part of a team and now you're moving forward as your own entity. But that's just my approach... I know that others prefer to do it differently.

 

I don't fnd those long any more annoying than any other cookie cutter logs. "Easy find, TNLNSL/TFTC" anyone?

I don't like that approach, either.

[+JakeInPA]

What's it matter really? No one's winning prizes here for #'s. If it makes them feel better, so be it.

 

BTW, the daughter and I log together.

[+whistler & co.]

IMO, if you are going to claim a previous group find as one of your own, at least use your own words to describe what it was like to make that find.

 

That's not always feasible when you're backlogging a few hundred finds!

I understand what you mean but backlogging a few hundred finds is not something that I understand doing. Just start fresh, ya know? You made those first few hundred finds as part of a team and now you're moving forward as your own entity. But that's just my approach... I know that others prefer to do it differently.

 

I don't fnd those long any more annoying than any other cookie cutter logs. "Easy find, TNLNSL/TFTC" anyone?

I don't like that approach, either.

 

It's all about the numbers, baby!