Travelling With Kids: Yea or Nay?

I came across this post that I wrote several years ago, before number three was even on the way, and I can’t believe how much our lives have changed.  We’ve had the opportunity to travel as a family and experience incredible adventures together that I will forever treasure.  Does it ever amaze you how quickly the time flies by and in what seems like a blink years have passed?

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“Having kids is not going to change our life”.  That was the mantra that my husband and I would repeat as newlyweds.  Above all else, we were going to continue our love affair with travelling. In our ignorant opinion, parents who compromised were just lazy.  Fast-forward a few years, 2 kids and a mini-van (gasp!) later, I am agonizing with my husband whether or not we should pack the bathing suits along with lots of patience and take our two young boys on vacation.

This will be the third trip we have taken with precious cargo.  When our first born, was only 5 months old we set off in our sporty SUV for a driving trip around Quebec.  It was everything we imagined travelling with a child to be:  our darling baby lulled to sleep for hours by the hum of the road and late night romantic dinners while our babe, snuggled in his stroller, dozed soundlessly.   Sure, it took some planning but travel was entirely possible with little ones.

My smugness bit me on the nose aboard an Air Canada jet a few months later.  Suffering from an unknown allergic reaction, our one year old threw up chewed pineapple all over himself, my husband and me.  The poor business traveler squished in the seat beside us was spared, thankfully.  Being the good mother that I was, I had a fresh sleeper for him but my husband and I spent the rest of the flight avoiding the uncomfortable glances of neighbouring passengers.  All of our hopes were dashed with greater speed than projectile vomit.  Swollen hives, wakeful nights and general misery presided over the weeklong holiday.  I found myself counting the hours until we’d be back home.

When our second son was born, we were wiser, more experienced.  So when my in-laws announced that they wanted to take the entire family on holiday this summer to commemorate a special birthday, my husband and I exchanged looks of terror.  A six-hour car ride with two kids under 3?   Celebratory meals in nice restaurants?  Uh, no thanks.  After plying us with wine, we reluctantly gave our consent.  The car ride was surprisingly pleasant (thank you DVD player) but the five days of torrential rain and being confined to two small rooms was enough to make even Mother Teresa lose her cool.

The problem remains that when we consider resigning all vacations with the kids until post-puberty we are reminded of our own childhoods.   As a boy my husband would ski all day with his brothers and then return to the cabin to engage in shenanigans that to this day make them bust up with laughter.  I remember trips to Disney World, and what remains with me today more than the vision of Cinderella’s castle, are the times that my work-a-holic father was freed from his cell phone and over-stuffed briefcase.

A few days ago while I was walking the boys to school, I overheard an angst-ridden teenaged girl whine to her friend that her parents were making her go to Mexico for Christmas vacation.  The friend agreed that her parents were being “totally unfair”.  What ungrateful and undeserving brats!  While listening to their whining it occurred to me, there might come a time when my boys would rather be in the company of their friends than explore the world with their parents.  That night my husband and I confirmed a flight reservation.  The vacations that we take with our kids are different than the ones we enjoyed as a carefree couple but I won’t trade the sleepless nights, frantic airports or all-you-can-eat buffets for anything.

The reality is that I am selfish.  I want to see their little faces awash with excitement when we step across the gate at the Magic Kingdom and I want it to be my hand they reach for when we are jostled about in a crowded bazaar.  I know it will not be long before they are grown men, who will want a different woman at their side.

They make travel with kids look so easy. Now that’s acting!

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