Work It, Dad!
with Avi Spivack
Hi, I'm Avi, and I try to put the work and the dad together, with mild success. This is all about trying to give you a view from what it looks like on the dad-man's side of the world, and I hope you find my ruminations humorous because I try not to take myself too seriously.
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So we’re up in the White Mountain area of New Hampshire, fulfilling the year-long desire of our daughter to visit Storyland (for those of you who don’t live in New England, it’s basically a small-fry amusement park replete with a variety of scenes from classic fairy tales - Humpty Dumpty, The Old Lady in the Shoe, etc.).
Basically, if you have a child above 36 inches tall, you must visit.
We spent the day in the park with our friends, seeking out the thrills (my favorite was the “Polar Coaster“) and trying to stay in the shade; we came home, hit the pool in the July sun, and I was thinking that this was a nice little summer weekend “kid vaca.”
As we had dinner at a local restaurant, we ended up talking about vacations and how frequently we’ve been able to go - with/without, pre/post kids.
Morale: Boy, travel was so much easier pre-offspring.
So, tell me: what are your summer plans and when was your last REAL vaca?
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Summer plans (from Memorial day on): zoo; adoptee picnic; County fair; hoping to go to an open-air concert and a teen theatre production; hoping to hit a couple of local museums; family celebrations; lots of trips to nearby parks. That’s about it.
Last vacation (other than short, obligatory family visits): Macchupicchu Peru, summer solstice, 2007. Great exercise, met some weird and cool people, dabbled in the exotic, only “worked” a couple of the days. Also, was all excited looking forward to finalizing my kids’ adoption in the near future.
SKL | July 19th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Last time what? About 15 years ago…was to one of the Islands. Was really nice and good thing I will never forget. Took all the children with me and left hubby home taking care of business.
Before that…..about 3 years earlier….a nice trip back home to visit. Now most of the important people are gone.
Would love a vacation…anywhere by a body of water would work.
Eileen | July 20th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
My summer vacation is usually a trip to my parents house. This year, a family crisis cut it short and rather destroyed the time we did have from the moment we arrived.
Other than trips to Wollaston Beach (we live about 2 miles from Revere Beach but prefer the South Short beaches and Wollaston is easily accessible for us via the T), the Frog Pond and aimless wandering around the city, we have no other plans for the summer.
My last real vacation was a 3-week trip to Germany in 2003. After that, I had a lot of 3 - 4 day trips to Louisville, KY in 2006 to see M before he moved here (he was stationed at Fort Knox). Oh! We did have a 5 day get-away to El Paso, TX before he went on to Fort Knox though. That counts.
And there was the Labor Day weekend trip to Hampton Beach in 2007. I was pregnant with our daughter, so I don’t know if that counts as a “with” or “without” offspring. ; )
Phe | July 20th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I don’t remember the last time, but I have a no-child vacay planned for next year and boy am I excited!
Mich | July 20th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Our last real vacation was our first anniversary. Since then, the business and babe have taken all energy and money!
Brooke | July 20th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Our last REAL Vacation was our honeymoon 4 years ago! We went to Daytona Beach, FL. It was fun, but I wish I would have picked somewhere with more things to do. We rally haven’t been on a REAL vacation since the kids were born. We have taken a couple weekend trips, but nothing I would really call a vacation.
We are going to Orlando next month for 4 days WITHOUT the kids. I am really excited, but feeling REALLY guilty about leaving my kids. Everyone keeps assuring me that a vacation will be good for my husband and I, but I can’t shake the guilt.
Holly | July 21st, 2009 at 12:08 pm
the guilt thing is real, but you just have to take the plunge; the first year my wife and I left our daughter (15 mos.) it was brutal, but each year since, it’s been much easier, and now it’s a necessity
Good luck!
Avi | July 21st, 2009 at 1:11 pm
My husband and I think it is very important for us to go on vacation without our kids (5 1/2 & 3 years old). Last year we bought a house so we just did a weekend sans offspring, but the year before we spent a week in Colorado and are actually doing that again in two days.
We both work full time and need time away from the kids so that we can recharge and also do things that are easier without them (hiking in the mountains, brewery tours, car rides without whining, etc.). We need to keep our relationship strong in order to be the best parents that we can be.
Katie | July 22nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Last vacation was to Banff Canada two weeks ago. Prior to that we did Yosemite and San Francisco in January. Last year we did a Trans-Atlantic cruise (14 days) including stops in Bermuda, Ireland, Paris and Mont St. Michel. We’ve also visited Los Angeles (Disneyland, Legoland) twice in the last three years not to mention trips to Maui, the Big Island and Kauai for weekends. (We live on Oahu, Hawaii) All these trips WITH my son (who is now six). When he was three we did a cruise that included Spain, France and Italy and did a week in Rome. When he was a year and 8 months we did a cruise to Mexico. Our son’s first trip was to Lanai (short island hop) when he was a month old. He’s great on the plane, behaves very well when we travel and we take him EVERYWHERE we go. I could not imagine going on a trip without him. If I do my job and bring things he needs to travel, there is never a problem. He also sees the Eiffel Tower and Coliseum in Rome in cartoons and he remembers seeing them in person.
Vacations are what you make of them. In Banff we hiked a lot, went canoeing, and rafting. We couldn’t have done that six months ago, he would not have been interested. In Yosemite we skiied and played in the snow. In Rome we saw the sites, went to the Vatican and walked a lot while pushing his stroller. In Disneyland we spent 4 hours in Toontown and had a blast. In Legoland he danced in the water fountains for hours. He spent much of our trans-Atlantic cruise in the kids club while my wife and I relaxed.
I’ve never felt the need to cater to my son for vacations. He goes where we go, not the other way around. We take trips to Disneyland because it’s fun for all of us, not just him. Sure, as he grows older, we can do more and I’m saving trips to the Egypt Pyramids and Machu Pichu for his pre-teen years so he can go IN the Pyramids (12 yrs old min) and we can hike around Machu Pichu but there’s still the Washington coastline, Yellowstone, a New England cruise and New York City to do in the years between now and the tween years.
Does it really matter where you go with your kids? REALLY??? Kids can have fun ANYWHERE. They just want to be with mom and dad. The important thing is to TAKE THEM AND ENJOY THEM AND YOURSELF!!
Glenn | July 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
My daughter just turned 1, so our child-free travels are still relatively fresh in our minds. We did a lot of globe-trotting prior to becoming parents, b/c we knew those kinds of trips would be put on hold for a while. But one vacation that works really well with kids is renting a house with a group. Last month we rented a house in the Outer Banks with family - it was a wonderful vacation on the beach, and the presence of other family members meant help with the baby.
We do plan to take trips without kids, though I imagine it will be hard to leave them (most so far has been 2 nights away) - I think it is really important to set aside the time and money to do things as a couple at least 1-2x a year. We used to hike and camp a lot, and I found an overnight camp in the Rockies where we can send kids for a week while we spend time in the mountains (sure it’s about 10yrs off, but I’m already planning!).
slm924 | July 28th, 2009 at 4:55 pm