Vacation with the Kids

When you have vacation and the kids in one sentence, expect for horrible stories you would want to forget about. They say these are the best times to travel because you get discounts in tickets especially for those below 2 years old. Some would also say that you need not bring them along because they will not understand and they will not recall everything. And there are those who'd tell you that they (the kids) don't deserve to get to go anywhere because they haven't earned it yet. For those of you who have no kids yet, let me tell you this: there is no rule, or way or code that tells you how to bring your kids up.  I don't know how we did it, maybe it's what we saw with our own parents. But my kids are growing up healthy and good, I guess we're doing it right.

At night, I wonder why I keep doing the same thing over and over again and nag in my head how tiring it was to travel with kids. And yet on the next year, we plan for another place to go with the kids. I recall moments when I have had too much of everything that I tend to yell at them. I recall of the long hours in the plane while my kids are cranky and tired and just kept shouting and crying in the plane. I remember when M was much younger, how much he hated seatbelts that he'd find a way to get out of it. He got creative with seat belts  over time.

The things we must do to have that almost perfect family picture :)

I believe there are things in life that we could not teach them. There are some things in life that are better experienced than just by reading them in books. And there are things in life that make them more mature than other kids because of what they saw, and heard, and learned and realized on their own. As I have previously mentioned, M got creative with seatbelts. He used to just slide down past his seatbelt all the way to the floor of the plane so that he can get out of it. He likes watching the clouds and used to stand by his window just gazing at it. K waits for the food to be served. We usually flew with Ceb Pac, she knows there's food coming and she knows which one to buy. R and K usually fights for the window. Overtime, they tend to request for their own luggages, their own space for their own things.

We get to know the kids better. What they like best. And what things will they most likely try. It tested us as parents, as husband and wife, as partners and as friends. It taught us a lot of things, patience, kindness and love.

The sights and sounds of being in the place, cannot be disregarded. As they say, "to see is to believe." I'd like to add, "to see is to feel and to believe."

Napa Valley