-
-
Subscribe
We’re deep into the first week of our annual trip to Vermont. This weekend some of our friends from home who have a one-year-old and a four-year-old were planning to drive over to our neck of the woods from New Hampshire, where they had been vacationing. Friday was spent trying to coordinate our plans. The first time I called, I could barely hear my friend over the screams of her younger child who had just fallen in the bathroom and banged his head. Sounding exhausted and harried, she told me that the children were really ready to go home – unspoken was the possible fact that she was ready to send them there without her – she promised to call back later. But when I checked my e-mail before bed she had written to say that she and her husband were hanging out in the bathroom waiting for the kids to fall asleep. She had forgotten to grab her cell phone from the room and would have to call me in the morning.
Matt and I laughed in recognition, thinking of all the different ways we have tried to get our children to sleep in shared hotel rooms while we got in a little bit of unwinding in before bed. Once we actually set up the mattress from the second bed in our room as a kind of a wall between Tommy’s crib and us. Surprisingly, this ploy worked. Other times we weren’t so lucky and ended up like our friends spending a romantic hour perched on the toilet and the bathroom floor clutching plastic cups full of wine our eyes glazed with booze, fatigue, and the knowledge that those blissfully sleeping babies would be awake at 4:30.
In the morning she called and all was bright and new – the bump had subsided, everyone had slept, and they were eager to arrive. Although they were here for only a day and a half, we managed to share our first maple creemee of the summer with them and also to take them walking along the Mad River, one of our favorite activities. While we played on the beach I watched how carefully they had to hover over their younger child to make sure he didn’t eat rocks or sand (they were more successful at the former than the latter) and then I glanced at Tommy who had moved up the beach from all of us, intent on heading for deeper, faster water than he could safely swim in but contenting himself with digging on the shore when we told him “no” five times. I looked at the double stroller parked near the trailhead and realized that this summer I have no stroller, no diapers, no crib. Our only concession to babyhood is one small binkie that Teddy still uses at night (much to Matt’s chagrin). Heck, we even stayed in a bed and breakfast with no pool on the first night of our trip. And so far, no one has been out of bed before 5 a.m. (knock wood).
What I guess I’m trying to say is that I’m realizing that my stories about our adventures and the tips I offer to other traveling parents are going to be a little different from here on out. I’m crossing a boundary and moving away from a country that I’ll never return to: travel with babies and toddlers. Since I did more of this kind of travel than most people (we took a 3-week driving trip with Tommy when he was three months old and spent 13 months on the road when he was one and two) I know that I still have stories to share and insights to offer about traveling with little ones. But the theme of this year’s vacation for me is going to be the way that my children are growing up and how travel is revealing that to me in ways that I wouldn’t see quite so clearly at home.
Look for upcoming posts to see exactly how.
Comments
8 Responses to “Suddenly I’m traveling with bigger kids”
Got something to say?
I also hang out at
Connect with Mara
And look! They liked me
i love it – times change, and we keep learning. happy to follow your journeys!
jessiev´s last blog ..Interview with Debbie Dubrow: Reflections on TBEX ’09
I LOVE the hanging out in the bathroom. The things we parents do. I’ve been feeling the same way lately with my two – all of sudden I don’t have babies! Can’t wait to read your upcoming “growing up” posts.
Beth Blair´s last blog ..TravelKiddy: Kids’ Travel Entertainment
Welcome to my world girlfriend!
wandermom´s last blog ..Four Tips For Finding Vacation Rental Accommodation
What a bitter-sweet moment of awareness. I’m entering the “we’ll probably never all travel together again” place — I’m with you on the change!!
I’m looking forward to hearing more stories from you as we are in the same phase. It’s nice to be able to go places without stroller and diaper bags. But I have to admit that sometimes we do miss stroller especially at the end of the day when they don’t wanna walk by themselves.
Amy @ The Q Family´s last blog ..5 Tips for Family Backyard Camping from First Time Camper
I know exactly what you mean…I’m vacationing right now in Southern California with my kids and my sister and her almost-one-year-old. Suddenly we’re cast back into the world of twice-daily naps, walkers, and high chairs. It’s fun…because it’s not MY baby! *g*
Amy´s last blog ..McArthur Burney Falls State Park
I love it! I am sooo looking forward to that. I am almost there. I see the light. I have a 7 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. Another year or so and I will be set. I loved the trips this summer with no crib, although we do still have the diapers and sippie cups. Any step forward is great.
Heidi´s last blog ..Mom misses the point…
I love that my older boys (9 and 11) have started connecting the dots from our travels. They excitedly remember places we’ve been when they’re doing a project at school or reading a book. When we go somewhere that has a connection to a previous place, they make it on their own. We’ve been going to more state and national parks. I remember when they were littler I had to give them ideas of what to do, go play cowboys and Indians, see if there are fish in the lake, etc. Now they have their own ideas of what they want to do and where fun might be hiding. Even my home body is starting to look for places he’d like to visit and telling me what he wants to see when he gets there.
sue rodman´s last blog ..Big Weekend of Fun in Atlanta