WHY YOU SHOULD TRAVEL WITH YOUR KIDS
I feel like a pregnant women in her third trimester, counting down the days till her due date, wishing she'd go into labor. Three weeks till we leave and I'm wishing these weeks would hurry up already.
When we booked our two week vacation to Europe people were shocked when we said we were bringing the kids. I was very confused to be honest. Traveling with kids is exhausting, believe me we've done it. We've gone to California, Colorado, DC, Mexico and all over Michigan with the kids.
But every time we come home I'm so happy that we all went together, I can't imagine it differently. Perhaps I'm premature in saying this but I will stand by it 100%, a 2 week family trip will be epic!
Yes, I'm sure I'll have stories of how absolutely insane the boys were in a restaurant and all the Brits stared at us. Or when the Parisian women are walking by and I'm over here at the Eiffel Tower, trying to get the perfect selfie, while sipping on some bubbly, the kids are running around and Jerek's yelling at me to hurry up. Or when we're in NYC and I want to go to Chelsea to get photos of everything that has my name on it and the kids won't sit in the stroller, we've ran out of food and we throw a Kindle at them so they chill out.
Colorado-2016
Traveling with kids is exhausting but it brings more memories than I know what to do with myself. My mind, and computer, are full or photos, videos, laughs and tears.
This year I told myself that we need to make sure we do at least one small getaway a year where it's just us though. Last year in June we went to Nashville to have a belated birthday celebration for Jer with no kids! We left Thursday night and came back Sunday afternoon; it was the perfect amount of time away from the kids.
Plane ride to Mexico-2016
Jerek and I really don't know what it's like to be able to travel and not have kids in our lives. We graduated college in May 2009 and had Tracen at the end of 2010. Both of our kids from the get go went everywhere with us. They learned to sleep through dinners out in their car seats or strollers. We made make shift snuggle spots at relatives houses so we could stay longer and enjoy time with family and friends. We eat out at restaurants to teach them how they are suppose to act in public; doesn't mean it always happens. Yes, we will throw an iPhone in front of them when coloring, eye spy or hangman isn't working. I refuse to not go out and enjoy ourself and live inside some bubble like so many parents do because the kids are acting out in public.
2 kids in 1 suitcase for a week
Mexico-2016-Sky puked this up 10 min later in the Taxi
Things I've learned with kids is you aren't always on 'their' schedule like we're made to believe. You may need to adjust your dinner plans earlier so you aren't waiting an hour for a table but you CAN still go out to dinner. Or, maybe you've discovered grabbing breakfast is a better time to enjoy a meal out when everyone had a good night sleep. The point is you still CAN go out to eat, you might need to figure out a time that works best for the everyone so you all can enjoy that meal. The saying your life stops when you have kids is bullshit. You choose if your life stops, and we've chosen to throw that crap out the window.
Yes, my kids do act crazy at restaurants. That doesn't mean we don't go out though!
Traveling with kids teaches them that there is more to life than what you see sitting at home or even in school. That money can buy so much more than Pokemon cards and Minecraft shit (can you tell I'm a boy mom!) Traveling has taught the boys about time, different food and languages, about manners, landmarks, how to swim and adapting to your surroundings. It's taught them about states and countries, about sharing, about money and how hard we work to take these trips! Traveling has taught them about love and family and relationships. Traveling is a priority to us and I will make sure that the kids grow up experiencing this.