Don't get me wrong. I love vacationing with my kids. The older they get, the easier it gets. But it can also be totally exhausting and by the end start to feel a little less... vacation-y.
When my kids were very small we made many trips to visit family on Prince Edward Island. It was family time 24/7. Trips to the beach, finding kid-friendly restaurants (lobster? no way), endless games of I Spy, and lots of car rides to get kids back on a nap schedule. Lazing by the pool? Reading a novel? Notsomuch.
Then, we discovered the 'kids club.' And my whole perspective on what made a great family vacation changed for good.
It all began at cottage-country resort where we travelled with extended family. I had no illusions of adult time or real relaxation. We thought we'd enjoy the pool, the beach, and the family activities with our 3-year-old and 6-month-old baby in tow. I pictured hiding out in our room during nap time and hoping I might read a chapter or two of a new novel.
Upon checking in, we were given a sheet of paper with all of the events for the week. And then I saw it—the Kids Club. With programs for babies right up to teens, this place had activities galore for each age group. Not only during the day, but during the adult dinner time. And you could DROP THEM OFF.
Well, you had me at "drop them off." Our 3-year-old had just entered the magic age of unparented programs, and fortunately the 6-month-old was one of those 'pass me around' babies. My love of the Kids Club was born.
My husband and I ate dinner alone for 3 consecutive nights
something we hadn't done since pre-kiddo time—and the kids enjoyed the company of their cousins and made new friends at the Kids Club. (At least that's what we told ourselves. By Day 2, the Kids Club was no longer 'optional'!) The baby napped at the nursery, I took an art class, and my husband won the tennis tournament. We were really in family vacation heaven.
I will admit, the 3-year-old was just about 'done' with the dropping off by the end of the vacation, but we balanced mornings at the Kids Club with afternoon family time in the pool, which my husband and I had much more enthusiasm and energy for after a few hours off-duty.
That's when we realized that holidays are for everyone. Whether it's finding a place with tennis courts nearby so that hubby can get a few games in, or locating an outlet mall where mom can escape to after bedtime, planning a family vacation needs to take into account ALL members of the family.
It doesn't have to be a full-on Kids Club either. You can use a babysitting service on vacation, travel with another family and spell off evening sitting so that one couple gets a night out, or just implement (the dreaded) quiet time after lunch where mom and dad can veg out (this is a great time to use the electronic babysitter).
All I'm saying is, it's YOUR vacation too. No, you're not going to get back the interrupted lazy days of lying on a beach, but I think planning time for the grown-ups is a pretty important part of a successful family vacation.
So the next time you're online, surfing for a travel destination—do what I do—make sure "Kids Club" is part of your google search!
My kids are a few years older now, but we've continued to work on making family trips for everyone. We're about to take a road trip to a ski resort in Quebec. And yes, they're signed up for the Ski Camp!
This blog was written by one of our momstown mamas who loves to travel as long as there is a Kids Club!
When I was pregnant with my first child, I found out that a dear high school friend, who had moved to Victoria BC, was getting married a few months after my baby was due.
No problem, I thought. The baby will be a few months old, easy to tote around, doesn't take up a plane seat—perfect! We booked our plane tickets and hotel and rsvp-ed for the wedding thinking of how much fun we'd have travelling Victoria with a newborn.
Yes, I spoke about how much FUN we'd have travelling with a newborn.
Then, I had my baby.
My 5-weeks-early, colicky, always-needing-to-be-in-motion baby. Suddenly a 5-hour plane trip (plus a stopover) seemed like climbing Mount Everest. However, it was early days so I pushed the trip out of my mind and focused on trying to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. I booked a third ticket for my mom (there went the savings!) as I figured we just might need an extra set of hands if my husband and I were going to actually appear at the wedding at the same time.
The flight, actually, went much better than I anticipated. This kid who never slept, actually slept. The stopover and extra up-and-down didn't pop his ears like I'd feared. So I was feeling pretty confident when we arrived at the hotel, got our room with the crib (ha!) and settled in.
Kinda forgot about the time change.
Needless to say, this kid didn't get jet lag or time changes either. He just promptly stayed on a cry-feed-cry-sleep schedule... EST, not PST. Exhausting and overwhelming when at home. On 'vacation'—a total nightmare.
I think the defining moment of the trip for us was when my husband was walking the screaming baby near the beautiful Victoria harbour, and our friends (who didn't have kids yet) could actually hear him cry from their 6th floor hotel window. Good times.
You'll be glad to know, especially if you're travelling with babies this spring break, that it get easier. Kids get less squirmy. Their attention spans lengthen. And we parents get a bit smarter about bringing along games to play, planning travel around naptimes, being realistic about destinations, and embracing the electronic babysitter.
Many trips and another (less screamy) baby later, road trips have become this family's preferred mode of travel. We enjoy the freedom we have to cram the car with as much stuff as we can and hit the road for as long as the kids can stand it.
And the baby who travelled to Victoria and back at 8 weeks old? (Yep, that's him above)
He's not the one who asks "Are we there yet?" Who'da thunk.
This post was written by one of momstown's road-trip loving mamas.
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