I’ll be honest: the last week or so has been absolutely crazy. I usually blog Monday morning about our week and sum up what we did and things I want to remember. I want to remember this week/weekend because we have made some crazy memories and learned some valuable life lessons in the process.
We had a wonderful week. It was slow and fun at first, mostly laundry and running errands. On Thursday Zach decided he wanted to take a long lunch and head up to Park City with Sloan to test her skills up on the slopes. FYI – Park City lets kids 5 and under ski for free – so it was a no brainer. I fed Sloan her lunch and then Zach picked us up. We drove to PC, found a killer parking spot, and bundled Sloan up in her snow gear. While we were walking up to the actual resort – people were laughing and pointing at us, some even said, “Good luck with that” and “Is she really going to snowboard?” We just laughed and had her wave at people. It was pretty entertaining. Once we got her on the hill Zach let her go down the mountain with him holding on to the Riglet the whole time. She didn’t fall once and kept her balance each time. We filmed a few bits of her going up and down and then Zach let her go down without the rig while he ran beside her. She did a lot better than we both expected. She was having a blast so we kept doing a few runs with her until it was time for her snack – which she ate on the snow in her snow clothes.
We drove home and I put her down for a nap. While she slept I downloaded the videos off the camera and put the video on Facebook. It was terrible quality, so I decided to upload it on YouTube (because the quality is so much better) and share it on Facebook instead. I didn’t have a YouTube account, so I had to set one up. Then I did laundry and other chores while Sloan continued napping. People were really sweet about the video and a lot of people were viewing it on Facebook and making nice comments.
The next day KUTV picked up the story and asked Zach for some information and photos. He obliged and they posted it on their online page. Within minutes the views went from a few hundred to THOUSANDS. We thought it was hilarious and didn’t think a thing of it. Then, Fox13 called. Then Channel 4. Fox 13 came Friday to our home to interview Sloan (even though I told them she could only say “mama” and “dada”) and it was pretty hilarious. Let’s just say it didn’t go very smoothly. Sloan was more interested in jumping off the chair we were seated on or grabbing the interviewer’s microphone. Regardless, they ran a cute story about Sloan. Other stations started picking it up and running the story and video in their evening news. That night, after it aired at 5 on Fox, Zach started getting phone calls. A ton of phone calls. FOX National News, CBS, and even CNN. We couldn’t believe it. Saturday morning CNN did a phone interview with Zach and it exploded after that. It went from 3 million views on KUTV’s site to over 13 million views in a matter of hours. We had a date night planned with Zach’s family, so our sweet Hayley came over to tend Sloan while we went out to dinner with some of Zach’s siblings.
When we woke up the next morning, CNN had run it on all of their affiliates and everything was going crazy. The response was incredible. Here are some links that we’ve kept track of [my favorite being ABC National News, KSL, and Zach’s favorite…the New York Post video] and this is the perfect place to store some of them.
It’s now been played all over the country and even other countries like Jamaica, Argentina, China, the UK. Some guy from Norway even interviewed Zach about Sloan and her “next steps” when it comes to her snowboarding skills. Hundreds of people have emailed me the past few days. Some saying sweet things about how we are getting our daughter outside and teaching her to have fun – some asking about her equipment. Park City has sent us some Smith gear and GoPro [this is where Zach lost his mind] even contacted us about sending us some new stuff for Sloan – including a brand new Hero Session 4! Burton, Salty Peaks, and several other companies also have contacted us.
Monday was by far the most bizarre, when Good Morning America contacted Zach AT WORK. How they got his work number is both creepy and impressive, but they got a hold of him. They told him that Sloan’s video was the first thing they discussed in their production meeting and they wanted to run the story. They planned to run the video and do a Skype interview from our living room. It all was very surreal. Monday morning ABC National News also called for a phone interview, which was my favorite interview we’ve done thus far – and one of my favorite stories. The sweet reporter, Stevie, who interviewed me about Sloan was one of the best interactions we’ve had above all.
Tuesday morning we woke up at 4 am to get ready for Good Morning America. We set up my laptop on the coffee table of the front room and woke Sloan up at 4:45 to get her dressed. Waking up a 14-month-old at 4:45 is risky business. She wasn’t her normal sweet self, and we were hoping all would go well. I think considering the circumstances, she did pretty good. We had to sit and wait for the interview from 5:00 am until 5:45, when the actual live interview took place. Keeping Sloan sitting still that long was no picnic [just ask everyone in our ward during sacrament meeting – they know Sloan well] but with a little help from some yogurt melts, stacks of toys and books, and in the end – my phone – it all worked out.
It was most definitely a stressful experience, but something we both know we would do again if we had to do it over. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’re glad we did it, and that it is over. The link is here if you want to watch it for yourself.
We were also live on Channel 2 later in the week, where Sloan tripped and fell...but thankfully they edited it out on their website and social media. It was a fun experience and people were so excited to see the little girl that got almost 70 million views in 4 days. They kept saying how far the story had reached and how grateful we let them run it first. Here is the link to our live spot if you want to check it out.
With all the positive and sweet things people have said and done to reach out to us – there have been the negative things as well. Surprisingly, nothing negative has been done on any news or media stations directly. How sad is this: the only negative backlash we have received is from Facebook. Mostly comments on the KUTV article about her not wearing a helmet and us being “irresponsible parents”. It didn’t bother me [because I have a helmet in my hand during almost the entire video – even the smallest one I could purchase was too big for her and she couldn’t see beneath it] until I read a comment criticizing Sloan’s appearance. Some guy called Sloan a “fatty” in a comment and I about died. Truthfully, I was so hurt and upset that I decided I would never read a single comment after that one. I’ve been tagged in hundreds of comments since and I haven’t even given them a second glance. Make fun of me – that’s fine, I can brush it off. Make fun of my baby – I’ll go mama bear on yo ass. So since then, it’s been very enjoyable. Not looking at the negativity on Facebook has made me realize that anyone can turn anything into something bad. The video was meant for family and friends to see how Sloan has progressed, something fun and hopefully enjoyable to watch for others. But it has exploded and we can’t help but laugh about the whole situation. Who knew that such a silly video would be watched by so many millions of people. As a parent, you obviously think your child is adorable – but to see others enjoy her and get to see her personality a little bit, that makes you very proud. You can tell by the video how much she truly enjoys it, and how proud Zach is of her.
One of the most enjoyable things about this whole process is how people have reached out to me. All kind messages – flooding my Yahoo and Gmail and Facebook Messenger. Some have said how sweet it is to watch Zach be such a sweet, loving, and proud father. Some that they love that we are teaching our child to enjoy being outside and teach her a sport that will bring her joy in life. Others have said how they admire the patience and love it takes to teach a child to snowboard – let alone get her snowboarding clothes on. Most of all, I am glad to know that people respect the fact that we are enjoying being a family outside, not plopping our baby in front of a TV. I know there have been comments about her not wearing a helmet, that we are careless for teaching her such a dangerous sport…but all I have to say to that is they just don’t know Zach and I very well.
So what have I learned from this experience? How lucky I am. I am a mother of a sweet, fun-loving baby girl. Who loves to be outside – whether it be playing, snowboarding, or going on walks – with her parents. For me, it’s not really about how great of balance she has or that she can actually ride on a snowboard. It’s the joy you see in her smile when she’s doing it. That’s what makes me the proudest parent of all, seeing my little girl smile like that.
February 14, 2016
I totally understand about the helmet dilemma and how you guys made up for it by being right beside her the whole time in case she trips (which she hopefully never does)