On Vacation with Kids...

The same thoughts I shared about vacations yesterday apply here, but if you are just getting into the 'swing' of traveling with kids, you are probably realizing it is NO vacation!! It is hard work. It is tiring. It is uncomfortable and expensive. So why do you go to all that trouble? First, you may feel like it is the 'thing to do'. Go to Disneyland, travel to the Black Hills, camp at Jellystone. Advertisers and "The Joneses" put alot of pressure on young families to 'do it all' and 'do it all in style and ease'. Can I be the voice of reason (and experience) here and say, go on a vacation to relax and reconnect and anything beyond that is a bonus. You may choose to go to the fancy, fun places but do it to relax and reconnect. If that isn't happening on your vacation, maybe you shouldn't go to all the trouble.
I was the 'picture-taker' in our family and I now look back on the photos from early vacations and I not only see the photos I took, I also remember the attitudes that were expressed during that time. Sometimes we were cranky and tired. Sometimes my husband and I were struggling with staying civil and sometimes we were just faking a smile to make it look good for the snapshot. I learned over the years that those pictures aren't priceless, they bear the marks of a 'forboding cloud' hovering over our vacations...and I needed to once again be the mom and get focused on why we were vacationing and what I could do to enhance our time together. Those photos are just a reminder to me to make sure that our vacations were about reconnecting and building GOOD memories and therefore a good family. If a photoshoot had to wait in order to fix some hurt feelings or if we missed a good shot because the rest of the family was tired and had enough, that became my measure of a priceless photo album. I can now look at my vacation albums and see how my family grew but I also can track and see how I grew and became a better mom and wife because I kept my expectations to a minimum and my 'wonder' to the max.
Vacations are necessary to reconnect and see each other in a different setting. They offer an opportunity to develop patience, encourage one another, love each other even when it's hard. It's a time to say I'm sorry quickly because the vacation has a deadline and you don't want to carry a grudge through all the fun times. Vacations are for memories. Vacations are to learn. Vacations can be a mountain top experience or a valley...but they always make coming home a time for reflection. Know why you are traveling with kids and then go and enjoy it!!