We are back home after 15 VERY long days at the in-laws. The trips up there, and anywhere family is involved in sharing living space with us, has become difficult for us. We are not a huge family, but there are five of us, and I will admit we have a LARGE family footprint:) Because of that, staying at other people's homes for more than 3/4 days is too much!
Ben and I are also finding it more difficult to travel to or with family as the kids get older. I know this may seem strange as you would think things would get easier as they get old and traveling in general has, but not when family is involved. The reason for this(for us) is that we live far away from family and only see them a few times a year. We have come to rely on friends and neighbors for babysitting and other "emergencies" because we had to. We have been VERY fortunate to have found a few really GREAT friends that have stepped up in ways you think only family will:) What the downside to this is that our families do not see how our children are raised day-in and day-out and when we are with them that is made very clear! From what they can eat when to what they can watch on tv, things that they would know if they were more involved. And I know that it is not by choice that we live so far away, but it makes it hard for me and the kids. To hear you kids being yelled at for having a snack in between breakfast and lunch(when they have been playing in the pool for hours)it is annoying! And then 20 minutes later you find your 7 year old watching CN(not allowed at our house)you just wonder!
The solution we have decided on is no more than 4 days with family, it is too much! We will spend our vacations as a family...the 5 of us! We don't spend enough time doing fun things together anyway!
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