Traveling with Kids | Playing Fair
Tonight while we ate dinner,
Viola was zoned out watching
Yo Gabba Gabba on my iPhone.
I know,
I was totally that parent in the restaurant,
but here's why I did it
(and while I'll do it again)...
Today we woke up at 9:00.
We put our clothes on,
and were out the door within the hour.
We drank coffee at the cafe downstairs,
we walked to the boulangerie for pastries,
and we hopped in the car.
We drove an hour,
explored a cute little town
and it's famous copper shops.
We ate a three course lunch
and we hopped back in the car
for another hour of driving.
We reached Mont St. Michel
where we spent the next three hours
exploring the city
and watching Viola roll around in the grass of the abbey.
We walked back down,
hopped on the shuttle,
got in the car,
drove another two hours.
When we got back to Bayeux at 8pm,
we went in search of dinner.
It was a LONG day.
A long, adult-friendly day.
My baby was exhausted
and she had sat, sweetly, in her carseat
and through long meals for several days.
(She sat through a three hour dinner
on Friday without a moan or cry!)
But tonight, she was tired
and wanted to be in bed.
So I let her watch weird animals dancing around
as she rubbed her eyes and ate pizza.
I won't pretend to have a magic formula for traveling with kids,
but I can tell you:
it's a give and take relationship.
You get to see and do great things,
but you have to be kind to them
when you're running them around
without a say in the schedule.
You expect big things from them?
Fair enough.
I do, too.
But I also try really hard to make it easy on her
when we are in slow moments.
You may find yourself doing things that make you cringe
(hello baby with iPhone!)
because you put them through a lot
when you bring them to travel with you.
Take it easy on them!
Order Dominos into your hotel room
when you've been out all day
so that they can have the night in.
Let them crawl around on the floor
of the back room of the cafe you're having coffee in.
If you're nursing, feed them an extra time
to help settle them and make them comfortable.
Or whatever may arise that makes their day a bit easier.
You're asking a lot of them...
and it will help reset them for the day ahead.
And trust someone who has learned the hard way,
a little "give" during travel
helps everyone out!
FIND MY POST ABOUT TRAVELING EUROPE WITH BABIES HERE>
FIND MY POST ABOUT FLYING WITH BABIES HERE.