I’m looking for any hints on how to go on enjoyable and relaxing vacations with two small children. The kids are 4 and 10months and the four year old is very energetic. Somehow so far everything we tried wasn’t in a way that both parents enjoyed it too much. So we’re happy to learn from your experience. Bonus if it’s not too expensive.
Keep expectations low. You don’t have to take your 1 year old to Disney. Attention span is short, so keep it cheap. They’re fine doing the same things they do at home, but in other places. Anything different is cool. This McDonald’s has a better playground. The giraffes at our zoo are bigger. This library has fluffier chairs. The silde at our playground is higher. Also, you don’t have to take your kids on every vacation. It’s ok to leave them with family or friend to have time away.
The best thing we’ve done is visiting some friends (who also have kids that age) who live out in a rural area. We don’t have to spend as much time wrangling them that way (especially because our friends already had a child-proofed house), and after the kids went to bed, got to play board games and drink bourbon. The first night for our kids tends to be a bit rough, so we bring melatonin as well.
Even then, it’s still kinda stressful. It’s a phase you’re in for a while, I’m mostly resigned to it (and saving my more ambitious plans for when the kids are easier to travel with).
We went a long way to visit grandparent with our 1y3mo , and the biggest thing is to have a way to keep them occupied and find or create a safe place to let them loose.
Not sure ho to deal with the 4yo yet.
Just being there, and with a baby you’re quite busy as well. Accidents happen, so with some hiccups we avoided any major issues (but it could have been more relaxing for us).
Thank you for all the comments, I’m taking quite a few of your ideas and we’ll see what works for us.
