Kids on Vacation: Take ‘em or Leave ‘em

When I told my friend we were bringing our one year old son on our upcoming


Oregon vacation she said to me “If you bring the kids, it’s called a ‘trip.’ If you go without the kids THEN it’s called a ‘vacation.’” Point taken. Bringing kids on vacation can be a hassle. There’s nothing like caravaning down a six lane freeway in a place you’ve never been, trying to keep up with the driver ahead of you and having your son announce “I need to go to the bathroom—BAD.” The subway systems are not constructed with families with strollers in mind. Making a week’s worth of diapers and wet wipes fit in a suitcase is a daunting task. Surely even the hard core road trip loving parents get a little annoyed when they hear their child whine “Are we there yet?” for the 23rd time. These are all compelling reasons to find a sitter (no matter what the cost) and have a “real vacation” without the kids.

Yet we have had so many memorable family outings—when I imagine the experiences without my kids, it seems almost sad. Building a sandcastle at the beach is just not as fun without my kids around. I don’t sing in the car when it’s just me and my husband. When my kids are with me, I have an excuse to slow my pace and notice things. My children give me an outlet to channel my excitement through. When we’re taking off in an airplane I like having my children there so I can say, “This is it, here we go! Look out the window—see the houses? They’re so small and the cars look like toys! Can you believe we’re actually flying through a cloud?!” There’s something special about experiencing those first time moments with a child. It makes them feel new fresh and exciting all over again.

Children remind us to find joy and excitement in the little things. When we took our kids on a trip to New York, we spent the fist day sight seeing. We saw the Statue of Liberty and went to a Yankees game. We rode on a train and the subway all in the same day. We did a lot of walking. We were all exhausted when we got back to the hotel. The place had a jetted tub that none of the adults thought was sanitary enough to use. Ignoring the sign that warned against doing so, I added bubble bath and turned on the jets. My boys laughed with delight. The tub quickly became half full of water and the other half bubbles. My boys couldn’t stop laughing as they made bubble hats, and bubble beards in front of the huge bathroom mirror. They slipped and slided until they were clean, happy and ready for bed. Their happiness soothed my frazzled nerves and reminded me that we were on this vacation to relax and have fun together.

My husband and I do not take our children on every trip we go on. We’ve had many experiences when we’ve been thankful NOT to have the children with us. But I wouldn’t trade our family vacation memories for a romantic two week stay in

Hawaii without the kids…okay, that’s going a little far. But the fact is bringing kids along on a vacation is guaranteed to make your trip more eventful—and usually in a good way.