Vacations with Toddlers

Grandmama:

In Facebook, one of my friends posted their weekend plans: taking their two children, ages 1 and 4, on a weekend trip. She was looking forward to it. The children were excited. 

Then, the Monday after: "Monday again? YUCK! Had a busy weekend. ________ was.......ok? Very hard to travel with kids."

I'm sharing my response with you:

"My mother, wise woman that she was, said not to take the kids "places" until they were 8. 

My sister, Auntie B, says that taking them often to low-key local places, like parks--which become their parks, their fun memories with you are 

the most important until then. Keeping it easier on you and your husband makes great memories that last their lifetimes.

PS: When our oldest turned 8, my mother and dad took her to Disneyland, one of several memorable trips she made with older members of the family--after age 8."

Before eight, it's hard to travel, hard to sit still for hours, hard to "behave" after sitting strapped in a plastic shell with a very thin pad, legs dangling. And those exciting moments you want for them disappear in a matter of days, unless bolstered by photos and stories. Then, what they remember is the picture and what you say happened.

Which is not to say that children do not need  rich experiences--They do! But those experiences are not crowds, overheating, and photo shoots. 

Contrast this outing with one to an "amusement or water" park: It's something I'm planning every year.

This is a photo of my granddaughter taken last year when she and I went on a ride on the ferry between Galveston and Bolivar and had a picnic. We stopped thirty minutes into the trip at a McDonald's with an indoor playground for free play and a snack. In Galveston, we drove onto the ferry, got out and climbed up to the shaded lower deck.   We watched birds, most of which she could identify, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, and others. We spotted Dolphins cavorting as we plunged on. 

On the way back, we waited a long time for our turn on the ferry, eating in the car and singing songs. The return leg found us on the upper deck, wind whipping in our faces, discovering the Bay from a higher vantage.

She slept peacefully on the way home. But if she'd awakened, I planned a stop at my old home place with lemonade and cookies. Just she and me.

Doing it once won't make a lasting memory at this age. This simple trip repeated over the years will, I expect, become one complex memory of place and love and sharing.

PS: What about extended family having those children for the weekend to make wonderful memories while the two of you go to the water or amusement park. 

Create joy!

Comments

[オテモヤン]

http://oppao.net/n-ona/
http://oppao.net/navi/
http://oppao.net/new-d2/
http://oppao.net/fd3/
http://oppao.net/soap2/
http://oppao.net/bg2/
http://oppao.net/host2/
http://oppao.net/lesson2/
http://oppao.net/op2/
http://oppao.net/fl3/
http://oppao.net/bb2/
http://oppao.net/s-este/
http://oppao.net/rd2/
http://oppao.net/kawa/
http://oppao.net/n-club2/
http://s-auc.net/

[JennyOH]

I agree with the original poster about taking kids to local parks that become "their" parks. I still have memories of how exciting it was to go to Peterkin Park on Long Island when we would visit my grandparents every summer. Going over and over again, making it part of the trip, and associating it with particular family members helped to create some great memories out of a simple local park.