Vacationing with Your Children

Vacationing with your children can be great, but also challenging. Nothing can ruin your vacation faster than crabby, fighting kids. So get ahead of the game and trouble shoot possible problems that might arise on your vacation before you even head out on your trip. Here are some easy tips to follow to help you make the most of your family vacations.

Let everyone have input on what they want to do while on vacation. It is a family vacation after all. Start scheduling family meetings to plan activities. A good idea to put some structure into these meetings is to use a flip chart and have family members take turns recording answers. Subsequent meetings can be used to work out each of the next steps.

Eliminate any obstacles you might anticipate ruining your fun time. If you want your kids to enjoy their travel experience, make sure you understand what they like and dislike. With young children, keep in mind “less is more.� A swim in the hotel pool may be a much better choice than another two hours at the theme park.

Time is a huge issue when it comes to vacationing. Make sure when you take your vacation works for everyone. Don’t schedule your vacation at the same time as the Boy Scout camping trip your son has been dying to go on. If your teenagers have jobs, make sure they can get the time off to go on vacation.

Another timely issue is the daily travel schedule itself. Young children need naps, teens may want to sleep late, while parents relish the idea of “getting an early start.� Compromise is the best and only solution in this situation.

Compromise is a big issue in all aspects of your vacation. If it is impossible to reach a compromise about the music on the car CD player, headphones for individual players might be necessary.

Give everyone a job while on the trip. If one child is particularly adept at photography, make them the official family photographer, while another might be a great navigator.

At the end of each day, take a few minutes for a “Check-In� session. Find out what worked, what didn’t work and why. Make sure you use this process at the end of the vacation as well. Make some notes and put them away for your next vacation.

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