8 Vaca Lessons

My top 8 lessons from vacationing with little kids:

1. Be present. Put down the phone even for pictures. The first two days I didn’t take any pics. Didn’t take any pics at the beach… well my youngest was eating sand and throwing it so there was that 😬

2. Do what the kids want to do within reason. For us, pool, beach and we offered something that might be fun. My son was adamant he wanted to go to the aquarium not a small zoo. Then we finished walking around the zoo and he said: I guess it wasn’t so bad; can we go around again? (Win!)

3. If you have friends in the area where you vacation, catch up with them with the kids. It’s fun to have that re-energizing time and reconnect with friends/family. We met up with my husband’s best friend from law school and had amazing food and beer (they make a beer I like) at the brewery she owns!

4. Find time for yourself to decompress or workout, or journal.

5. If you need to do work, tell your partner or whoever you’re with in advance so you can plan ahead and manage expectations. Also, try to do it early morning before the kids are awake or after they go to bed.

6. Bring extra change of clothes and wipes whereever you go! For all the kids. They spill ketchup and all kinds of things on themselves.

7. Patience is key. Our two oldest kids are 8 and 5. There are sibling arguments, whining, and on a vacation, you often just want everyone to “be happy” and grateful for a vacation, but kids don’t leave who they are at home. Neither do we. They are entitled to rough moments, and so are we. (I try to remind myself of this anyway😬)

8. Go to sleep earlier than usual to be well rested and have as much fun as possible. Enjoy yourself! This is the most important lesson.