According to a Deseret News editorial people are taking shorter vacations this year and staying closer to home, which is bad for the tourism industry and also bad for people’s stress levels. Because apparently, “people need time off to unwind and recharge.”
I totally agree; people definitely need time of to unwind, relax, and recharge. But vacationing isn’t always the way to accomplish that. At least not vacationing with small children.
We spent last weekend at Bear Lake with Steve’s family. His mom turns 70 this month and all she wanted for her birthday was for the whole family to get together at Bear Lake in a bunch of condos for a vacation. Steve’s oldest sister put the whole thing together back in January (I think) and it turned out great.
There were 36 people there, with only one grandchild that couldn’t make it. Out of the whole family, missing only one is pretty good. There were 4 condos for the whole family, and we stayed with two of Steve’s nieces and their families. Steve has nieces and a nephew who are only a few years younger than him, so they actually have kids the same age as our kids. In our condo, we had 5 adults and 6 kids: a 9-year-old, a 5-year-old, and 4 toddlers between 16 months and 20 months. (His two nieces each had a baby within a few months after the twins were born.) It was definitely a party.
We really had a great time. One of Steve’s nieces and her husband brought their boat and gave everyone rides, most of the kids brought their bikes, one of Steve’s sisters brought a 4 wheeler, and the condo clubhouse had an indoor swimming pool. There was plenty of fun to be had. The kids had a great time playing with each other, and the adults had fun visiting and catching up.
All of the fun took its toll, however. For our kids, being out of their routine meant they got much less sleep than usual. Which made them very grumpy. Especially Kevin. In fact, we were the first ones to leave before checkout time because the boys were so grouchy we were hoping they would fall asleep in the car as soon as we hit the highway. They didn’t.
And any vacation is a lot of work for the parents, particularly when the kids can’t help with anything. (Kevin did help me pack his pajamas and his pillow though.) And now there’s still unpacking and cleanup to do. I would say that going on vacations is not the best way for me to “unwind and recharge.” And we didn’t even have it that bad. But the fun we had and the memories we made are great, and they’re definitely worth it. Kevin got to ride his bike, we all went swimming, Kevin and Steve rode on the boat, we all threw rocks into the lake, we had some great family meals, and everyone got to see cousins that we rarely get to see. Now, when does the relaxing start?
3 comments:
After your kids graduate high school.
Yes, worth it and relaxing are definitely different things. Vacation seems like so much more work to me, because the kids are out of their routine, and I always have to worry about them breaking things, sleeping, waking people up, etc. It goes up a notch if water is involved. I hear ya! Vacations can suck the life right out of a young mother :) I'm glad you had fun, and I'm glad you're back. You have to warn me next time-you know I won't go to church unless you guys are there :)
I find "vacations" take years off my life with the kids. But i just keep chanting "making memories, making memories" and I get through it. We've always had a lot of fun but trying to be pleasant the entire time is draining for me! I need to be able to yell and throw things but I try to keep that down on our vacays.
I'm glad you guys got to do that and had so much fun! :)
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