Momversation this week is about how to travel with children. Traveling with children is loads of fun. Our first family “vacation” was with a ten month old Maile to Hawaii and let me just say she was amazing.
And by “amazing” I mean I would rather have traveled with a pack of wild monkeys. She wouldn’t let us sit with her. She had a time change to adapt to. She got into everything at the rental house we stayed at. She still needed her naps which meant from the moment she woke up we had two hours to hurry and do something before her morning nap and another three hours between that nap and her afternoon nap.
I stayed behind with the napping baby while my husband pranced around the island. I had to remind myself that I was on vacation in Hawaii and that this was super fun.
Repeat that exact vacation two more times and you might understand why Pat and I, in fact, choose not to hop from state to state with our precious cargo. The fun vacations seemed more like work than it was worth and we dare not visit Hawaii again until Kainoa turns forty.
So when I realized this Momversation topic was about traveling and how important it is to continue seeing the sites post baby, I just knew I had to weigh in.
Ahem.
I mean…Nell the very serious moderator/question asker,
Sara, the valley girl with important things to say,
and Rebecca, the super smart, sweet southern belle,
all weighed in with their best travel advice:
Your thoughts?:
- How do you entertain your children when you travel?
- What types of hotels do you stay in?
- Where will you travel next?
- What’s your idea of a great vacation?
Momversation: Social Media And Our Children
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
They keep getting better and better. I’m kinda relating to Rebecca….ask Tiffany, I’ve told her in my former life I was a Southern Belle living on a Plantation…
See…now all you need is a wig and you can totally morph into that southern belle you long to be.
Being a family with 4 kids who have huge age gaps between them and have completely different tastes, we avoid traveling unless it’s somewhere near by. We always stay in hotels who offer breakfast and usually have a restaurant near by!
BTW, I loved the video! :D Too funny.
I travel to Michigan to see FAMILY! LOL! That is my traveling and I like to drive at night so the SLEEP. LOL!
You crack me up to all end. It is 2am and I busted out laughing. You have many personalities. LOL You must entertain the kids. ;)
omg this is why i read your blog. you’re hysterical! we’ve done a lot of traveling with our son but just for family and the marfan conference, which is pretty much family. but, uh, once #2 makes his/her appearance this winter i’m not sure i’ll be as eager to fly around. it’s one thing when your kid is free, but even just buying 3 tickets instead of two is a pain, let alone having a 2nd little one in tow. so, we’ll see.
I hear ya!! A $1000 round trip to Hawaii will now cost us at least $2000+ to bring the family…and that’s just for the flight. It’s hard justifying spending that when there are so many things around the house that need to be done.
See…my day was kind of crummy…and then I came here and WOW…Laugh Out Loud funny….Thxs ;-) If you do end up traveling to Hawaii….specifically Oahu, let me know! We’re here for another year or so…..I could make you a martini to dull the pain from your trip over… ;-)
All my plane trips with children have had family as a final destination so with Granma and Aunties on hand things haven’t been too bad once we get there. Except for the short leg of the UK – Australia journey where a 15 month old Princess C-W screamed and wailed from just after take-off in Singapore until about an hour outside Melbourne, about 6.5 hours. And then when she was nearly 4 and she was furious for the entire trip from, during and on our return to the UK – USA West Coast. I fully expected the US version of Child Protection to break into my sister’s place and arrest us after my girl spent 20 minutes in the bathroom screaming at her father ‘You can’t do this to me. Daddy! Stop it!’ over and over again. His crime? He turned his back on her and wouldn’t watch while she had a temper tantrum. Or there was the time my 3 month old boy had a high temperature when we were in Australia. Or being carted off the plane in Dubai in a wheelchair and taken into the airport via one of those scissor lift trucks all because I had asked if I could receive help and assistance as I was travelling with a 4 month old baby and had a 6 hour stop over. But other than that? Travelling with kids has so far been easypeasy!
Oh yeah sounds like a piece of cake Trash!! Next time you’re heading to Australia from US call me…I’ll send a couple kids with you.
I feel the same way as you – a vacation with kids is no vacation. I feel like it’s too much work and there is just too big of a risk that they’ll ruin the time away by throwing massive temper tantrums and not listening. I can be aggreviated at home, why spend thousands to be aggreviated in Disney?? It’s inevitable, and until they are a little older, I don’t want to spend the $$ to do those sorts of things. What we do enjoy, though, is A night or TWO at the most away at somewhat local places–and by somewhat local I mean no more than 2 1/2-3 hours in the car with my kids. Fortunately, I live in an area that has a great deal within that time range. We have done Great Wolf Lodge with them for a nice/2 days and it was very enjoyable. Those sorts of things work for us right now.
That’s exactly what we’re doing!! I have a post all ready to go about our trip to Portland over Memorial Day weekend…there are a lot of local destinations around here too, but I think the three hour trip to Oregon was too much for my little man. He lasted about two hours before the screaming to get out of his carseat started. Maybe you can groom your kids to tolerate long trips by slowly adding more time in the car each time you go. Hmmmm…
So we just did a road trip (16 hours one way) with a 4 and 2 year old. And it went off better than we could ever have hoped. Nobody cried. Nobody complained. Nobody peed or pooped in the car seats. I don’t know how it happpened, but it did and it made for a great weekend.
We didn’t get to do a lot of sight seeing or touristy things, but we’ve come to learn that’s par for the course while they are still little. We had very little expectations of what we’d actually get to do. Last year we spent a lot of money to visit my family in FL and go to Disney for a day. I’ll tell you—-save that trip until all children are at least 5. My 4 year old already forgot it unless she sees a picture and only kind of remembers it. WASTE. Hubs and I just can’t justify spending a ton of money on a trip the kids won’t remember and we might not enjoy. LOL! :)
That’s SO true! Great perspective…even though I’m pushing for a trip to Disneyland this fall. Maybe we can leave Kainoa with grandma!
Traveling with kids is difficult, but we do it anyway. We only have one child, currently age 2. She’s active and precicious and she keeps us very busy. We had a chance to take her to Europe when she was 11 months old – and we did it. We had a bunch of family members with us, so she was happily entertained by her cousins. But it was HOT those days and she barely got any naps. But we made it work. We were not going to pass up the opportunity because we had a baby. This year we’re taking her to Yellowstone. She can see all the big animals and take walks with us. I’m more concerned about the plane flight this time… but we’ll do what we can. Travel is important to us. It was a big part of our lives before she was born, and it’s just not something we’re willing to give up. I guess it just depends on how you weigh the pros & cons for yourself.
I agree…Pat and I were not big travelers even before we had kids, so there’s definitely no extra pull to do so now. Every once in awhile I see a family traveling together and I think, “see that doesn’t look so bad!” That must be your family I’m looking at. ;)
You are all kids of awesome. That rocked!
It is much more fun to travel with kids once they are out of diapers that’s for sure. We hope to take the boys to Disneyland this winter.
Once again, you have me LAUGHING OUT LOUD! That was insanely hilarious!
My idea of a great vacation does not involve my children, as horrible as that may sound, because I have two little monster boys who bicker and fight non-stop. Our little 12 hour road trip to Disney World in the 125 degree heat with humidity so thick you could cut into the air with a knife last summer pretty much did me in on the family vacays for awhile. Trying to “entertain” my two does not work. You must threaten them within an inch of their lives in order to maintain any sense of sanity! Thanks again for the great laugh…you rock!
I am so sad that I can’t watch this at work. Now I have to remember to come back when I get home.
We’re really lucky that we live 5 minutes from my parents and sister so we never HAD to travel when bratchild was really young. The hubs and I took a few trips together and she vacationed at my parents.
When she was 7 we did DisneyWorld for the first time and had no problems. Since then we’ve driven to Baltimore, DC, the beach, gone to DisneyLand and are heading to Mexico in 2 weeks. She’s 9 now and really loves going places.
We wanted to wait until she was old enough to enjoy/remember/understand threats before we really traveled with her.
And her nintendo DS? We pretty much hold it for car trips and flights and it keeps her occupied forever.
We didn’t go on vacation for 20 years. It was the kids fault.
I don’t mind traveling with my kids. I actually can’t wait to start again. We had to stop because of the triplets. Hotels kind of frown on you bringing in 3 pack-n-plays and such.
Loved the videos.
You crack me up Kat! My husband and I have only traveled to see his kids. They live with their mom and it is a 12 hour drive. We are doing it again next week! (joy)
I must be a glutton for punishment – I almost always took my kids camping, and I started when my oldest was two weeks old.
Think about this a minute…from infancy, her expectations were low for family entertainment – bugs and dirt were the norm.
This prepared the girls for outings at county fairs and demolition derbies.
And when we did have a nicer vacation? They were so thankful it wasn’t funny!
All bets were off when The Boy was born – he’s strictly a Holiday Inn camper.
Oh, and one picky thing – is it ‘MomSERVATION’ or ‘MomVERSATION’ – you have it both ways, and I gotta tell ya, it’s bugging the hell outta me.
Thanks!
Last year in May we went on our first ever beach holiday with our then just two year old daughter. When we returned my husband headed off to MIT for a week long IT conference. After he returned he admitted that his week of “working” had been far more of a vacation than our trip to the beach!
Traveling with children is exhausting, but still seeing your child on the beach, enjoying the sun, sea and sand is wonderful. We do not stay in hotels, we always rent a house or as on our last short driving mini-vacation a cabin, as I always prefer to have separate rooms to sleep in and some space to relax in all to ourselves. It is usually cheaper doing that too.
We keep our vacations simple. THe kids have always done great, they love seeing new sights and listen well when out in a new environment… I think it is the fear we put into them before we head out.
“Okay, we are going to a big city where they are plenty of people who look for opportunities to snatch children away from their Mommies and Daddies so stay right next to us and listen to whatever we tell you to do.” Works like a charm. :) he he he
On a more serious note, we try to let the kids know what to expect and what we expect of them. We plan fun activities around nap time/rest time. We either camp at a campground or stay in an affordable hotel that offers continental breakfast and has a washer/dryer nearby since we use cloth diapers. We keep it low key and if stresses arise then we take a break and enjoy watching TV (we do not have television at home so this is a HUGE deal) at the hotel, find a nearby park to veg out at, or play a game.
Whether we are hiking/camping at Acadia or visiting the museums in Boston we have had a wonderful time as a family building memories that will last a lifetime.
I’m with the one that wants to drink…
DVD Players, TONZ of movies, leapsters, food, food, food, frequent stops to play at random parks or elementary school playgrounds, food, dollar store “prizes”, NEVER put their carseats next to each other where they might *gasp* touch eachother, food. :o)
Hotels with pools and breakfast, water slides a plus. Several Holiday Inn Express have water slides.
You just absolutely crack me up! LOL!!!!!! I wish my traveling life my kids was like what Sara has, but alas, it is not. My parents live Hawaii and I am actually traveling BY MYSELF with the 2 kids there next week- 3 1/2 yr. old and 14 mo. old- shoot me. I am going to bring a portable DVD player for the plane and drug them before we get on.
…and France. Hahahaha!
We are some of the crazy people who drive all over the place with kids. We always say we would rather drive ten hours with our kids than ten minutes, because they really love our trips. (But they sure can fight on the ride to soccer practice.) Our parents live two days away basically, and we knew we weren’t going to fly to see them every time we wanted to, so we just started road tripping, whether there or other places. NOT fancy. Favorite trip was probably the Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. We stay in KOA camping cabins. Always with a pool or beach. Love them.
Right, leave Kainoa with Grandma if you’re going to Disneyland. We went to Magic Kingdom for a day once when we were visiting my dad who lives 1 1/2 hours away from Orlando. Our kids were 5 and 7. Or 4 and 6. We had a lot of fun, but Bethany says we need to go back because she’s starting to forget her flashbacks. It’s a lot of money to pay for cute pictures of an experience they’ll never remember. Or maybe not so cute pictures, depending.
Fabulous Momversation- very funny!
Yeah- travel, I miss travel, on planes to places far, far away. My ideal trip is anywhere tropical, with a sandy beach. Our next trip is probably going to be up to Vancouver BC to visit friends.
We just can’t afford longer trips now that we have to pay for another seat on the plane. With the airlines nickle and diming on baggage, and meals, it’s just to expensive. We do shorter car trips in Washington, Oregon, or up to Vancouver, BC. We keep him entertained by bringing books, paper, crayons, toys. Fortunately, our he really, REALLY, likes to talk, so we spend most of our time chatting or reading stories.
I have two daughters ages 16 and 9 and two stepsons that are 7 and 9. My husband and I have been married for two years and we haven’t even ATTEMPTED a vacay with everyone and probably won’t for awhile. It’s work to just keep everything running smoothly at home with 6 people, so the thought of traveling with everyone makes my left eye twitch and i unexplainably start to shudder… We’re still learning how to take everyoneo out to eat at a restaurant without some kind of “issue”…so vacation? Like trapped in a car? Like moving 6 people from Point A to Point B? Like…just no…not gonna happen…nuh-uh… I HAVE NO IDEA how the Brady Bunch did it…must have been TV Magic :-)
You are hilarious! Love these posts! Travelling with children is not a vacation…it’s a trip. Our girls are only 2 and 4 months so we will not be attempting a family vacation for quite some time. For now, we leave the kids with my parents and go by ourselves…now that’s a vacation! :)
Why do you not have your own reality TV show? You are ten times more entertaining than anyone out there. I think you should stop pitching to Ellen and pitch to replace Kate plus eight on TLC.
:-D
My first visit here and I’m cracking up! Will definitely be back!
We have done the big and the small travels, but this year we’ve vowed not to drive more than an hour away. (Got a great lakeside resort scoped out.)
Oh sweet Jesus I am DYING over here!! I am dyinnnnnng over here!
Love it. I don’t even know what to say. I love it!
Excellent advice…you are a hoot. Don’t stop! Hee Haw!
Keep the Balance,
Unicyclerose
Dum-dums, candy, and DVD’s are part of my vacation-package answer to traveling with children! And, we are stupid enough to keep planning these darn things, but at least there are moments that make it all worth it.
Honestly, the idea of travelling with my baby just seems like NO FUN. At 10 months old he still isn’t sleeping through the night, and I just have no desire to take him to a strange hotel or resort where he’s going to be disrupted, and be up multiple times a night with him when I should be relaxing. We aren’t planning any vacations until he’s at least 4. We may do a weekend away or a camping trip here and there before that, because I love to get away and I love to travel, but it really depends on him. If it seems like I’d just be chasing him around the entire time and listening to him scream on the whole car ride there and back, I’ll pass, thanks.
I’m so jealous of everyone who has family who can watch their kids! No such luck over here. I’d KILL to just be able to spend a night at a hotel WITHOUT him lol.
I find family vacations pretty stressful…I know they aren’t meant to be, but the packing and planning and constant entertaining just make me tired. We never agree on where to stay. I prefer a hotel with a suite-type room, so the girls can go to bed and we can still stay up and hang out (not to mention the on-site restaurant, maid service, etc.), but J prefers a house. I think, with kids, you just have to keep it simple. Either a beach or somewhere they can play and have fun, or Disney. Nothing with sight seeing or too much walking.
Well, that was hilarious! “This hair doesn’t style itself” cracked me up.
And I mean I’m laughing to keep from crying . We have two mini-vacations planned in the next two months and I’m already dreading it. We took a couple of vacations with our son before the twins were born, but this will be the first time we take them all.
I know it’s gonna be a lot of work and pretty much suck for us, but hubby & I didn’t get to go on a whole lot of vacations when we were kids so we are trying to make sure the kids get to do that fun stuff. Not that they’ll remember any of it yet. Now I’m thinking maybe we should just cancel…. ;)
When my kids were little, they just went wherever we went and took their naps wherever we happened to be! But then again, I was also never one of those moms where the house had to be totally quiet for them. I integrated them into our lives where they would be in the living room and if need be sleep right through me vacuuming. In fact, once we were on a family vacation and we did so much that day that #2 literally fell asleep standing up waiting for the tram. Please don’t turn me into the parenting police or take my mommy card away. They are all adults and valuable members of society so I much not have done too badly! LOL
OMG You are so funny! I went to see theirs and it was so lame. I didn’t even bother to watch it all the way through. Mostly because it was painful.
The last time we traveled was last year. My girls have traveled their whole lives–they are nearly 10 and nearly 13–my son who will be 5 later this year had not had as much travel experience. To the woman who said NO electronics. Is she nuts? bring on the phones, the mp3′s, whatever keeps them happy. We always look like a 3 ring circus when traveling, but they are pretty well behaved on the plane. The car always looks like we are living out of it, but again…they are happy. If the kids are happy during travel that is half the battle.
I gave up following schedules for naps (on vacation) after the second was born. It’s just too stressful. You can pick up the schedule where you left it. At home.
I love these posts. Please keep doing them!!
I go on vacations without my husband, well, because he’s a poop and wants to sleep all the time. So, I’ve already told him that when children start arriving, I will be going on vacation by myself and he will stay home to play Mr. Mom
I love you…I hate travelling with my kids and won’t do it! How do you come up with this stuff…especially, the southern, wt gal? LOVE IT
I really like to travel but honestly traveling with just me and hubby is SO much better than traveling with the kids.
Most of our vacations have been to visit family so they were fine. We do a week long trip to California complete with Disneyland this past March. We had a great time but after all that planning and saving my kids still whined, complained, and pouted. You would think in the happiest place on earth they could just have fun, not my middle daughter. Guess we are a glutton for punishment because next June we are hoping to go to Disney World with them. My plan to make it more enjoyable for mom is to build in lots more relaxation time. Days with nothing planned but sleeping in and letting the kids play in the pool. I’ll let you know how it goes.