Family Vacations

I laughed so hard after reading an article that my friend Amy wrote for the Tennessean. The part where our friend April said she gave her son an entire jar of peanut butter to keep him quiet brought back fond memories!! So I have decided not to take the massive family vacations. This year the boys and I have decided to stay poolside. I'm sorry did you say Disney World?? I'd rather eat thumbtacks. Sorry.

You can read Amy's blog below and follow her on coolmomscare.org

Multi-family vacations have their ups, downs
June 15, 2009

When the idea came up to take a vacation with a family close to ours, I imagined nothing but a great time: nights out with my husband while the other couple watched our children and great photo ops of the group romping in the sand — not to mention cutting costs by sharing a vacation spot. When I asked around about others' experiences, however, some less-than-idyllic stories came pouring in.

April Segadi of Franklin planned what she thought would be a wonderful trip with one of her family's closest friends. The children were around the same age as her then 2-year-old.
"We imagined this as an ideal time to take a vacation together — wrong. Really, our biggest mistake was taking one vehicle. We were so excited to gain a few bucks on gas. Of course you're all tired on the way home, but add two screaming kids to that. About two hours outside of Nashville, our son had completely lost it. The guys rode up front, and I won't name names but one of them had the nerve to turn around and ask me, 'Can you get your child to shut up back there?'
"I felt my body leaping through the vehicle to beat him. But after taking a deep breath, I decided to give my son an entire canister of peanut butter . . . that shut him up, alright — at least for a little while!"
A little advice
I did hear some helpful advice about making it an enjoyable experience for all. Nashville mom Jocelyn Smith and her family have a great time renting a beach house with two other families each summer. Ford, age 7, and 2-year-old Griffin enjoy playing with children outside of the family, and Smith says that having other adults around to help with childcare is a great way to spend a vacation.
"I like to swap out babysitting duties for dinner dates, or, even better, during the day so I can lay on the beach and read undisturbed," says Smith, adding that vacationing with others can be helpful for the budget because families can divide up all of the costs. "We usually order pizza the first night and cook a few big meals in; the other nights are for couple dinner dates."
The most important thing to remember is that you are on vacation, and the whole point is to relax and enjoy yourself. If you do decide to make it a group event, make sure you go somewhere with a variety of activities available. Having another rental car handy, or even a couple of bicycles for some exploring, can give you enough freedom to truly get away from it all.

Amy Hamiter is a mother of four who blogs at coolmomscare.org.