Six months ago while I was tucking my oldest into bed she slipped in how we never go on a family vacation. With that one sentence I nearly exploded, are you f'n kidding me! I gently reminded my (very spoiled or so I was thinking in my mind that night) child that we spend two weeks in Victoria BC, one week in Palm Springs and FIVE yes, FIVE weeks at our extended family cabin in the summer every year. Dear Lord up above, tell me where I went wrong with this nine year old to think that THIS is not enough "family vacation time" and no I'm NOT a helicopter parent nor do we spoil our children incase you were wondering, we are far from it! My hubby works late and long days to make extended vacation trips a possibility.
That night she could see from her dim nightlight that my (lack of botox) furrowed brow indicated anger. She quickly remarked we have only ever traveled with or to see grandparents, never the four of us ALONE.
There was a pregnant pause as I had to really think about it. She was right.
The G's in our life have always played an important role. We've always made it a huge priority to make sure my kids spend as much time as possible with them (both sets). Which means every vacation was spent with them. I can almost hear some of you gagging at the thought of vacationing with in-laws or even your own parents for that matter. I actually get along with my whole family (for the most part), they all love our kids and treat them like gold. To me they are a gift. Yet with that gift, I had stolen something even more precious from my own children...
alone time with our own family unit!
Our lives are so packed with work, school, activities and events that it takes a vacation for our family to get away, unplug and reconnect. Clearly my kids feel the same way and I have allowed them to connect with g's and not enough with us. Alone!
So on Thanksgiving weekend the hubby booked the trip. In less then a month we were off to Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and the kids were through the roof pumped. The reality of spending $6000 (all in) before Christmas was not to appealing and really the timing was kind of shitty but is there ever a great financial time to go!?
NOPE! But we can't afford not to.
We all needed this alone time, away from all distractions and this included friends and family. The trip wasn't all magical (trust me) but a good 90% was and to me, that's a huge win! The memories we made will be pulled out from hundreds of candid pictures and GoPro videos of JUST our family. There's epic stories to be told for whoever is willing to listen to a seven and now ten year olds tall tales of adventure abroad. We were able to build layers of connections that will help us through the leaner, tough preteen years that will surely be coming and have already started to leak through.
I don't know what the next the month brings, everyday is a blessing. What I do know is that a year from now the cost of this trip will have been washed away from our minds and our Visa statement but the trip itself has been tattooed on us forever.
#lifeunscripted
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