We just got back from travelling to the UK with our 3 kids (ages 8,5 and 2) and during our trip we were repeatedly told how “brave” we were. People looked at us in amazement, like we were charting unknown territory. Like we were the first parents in the world to attempt international travel with their kids!
I get what people mean, but I think that the bravery begins at conception and runs through to graduation. We look at travel with our kids as a responsibility to make them more interesting … and I truly want interesting children. After our weeks away and extraordinary flight(s) home my kids have picked up the following tidbits about the world
- England is beautiful from the air. It is a patchwork quilt of green. From the ground there is a lot of dog poop, quite a bit of litter, a tonne of people, excellent chocolate, a variety of fabulous tourist activities, yes, even in January. Oh, and Uncle Paul has chickens.
- Castles are seriously cool! Wear lots of layers and don’t be afraid to get mucky.
- All horses in England are friendly, all swans will bite.
- When flying, it is best to bring gum, go to the bathroom before you get on the plane and take whatever is offered to you (water, blankets, gin!)
- In any airport, on any plane, and dealing with all customs officers, it is best to smile and be accommodating… you get farther with honey than a bitchy attitude!
- Germany is not as pretty as England from the air, but a lot cleaner. Toronto’s airport is too big to manage a flight connection in 1 hr, Calgary is very dry and that causes a lot of electric shock. Amsterdam has the best chocolate.
- KLM has the best international flight staff for the kids, Air Canada has bigger planes. KLM also has drinks and mini chocolate bars and lets you hang out in the galley during the flight. Air Canada was the strictest international airline, with the worst sense of humor!
- Lufthansa has the only “pleather” seats we experienced. Not bad for travel, but causes fruit snacks to melt into moms jeans faster than fabric seats
- Frankfurt has big family bathrooms that are great for scraping melted fruit snacks off moms butt…. Seriously sticky
- After 34 hours of travel delays, 10 take offs and landings and 20 hours in the air, everyone is allowed to lose It once! Especially when the journey ends with “someone” leaving the passports on the plane!
It is always worth it! Witnessing your 8 yr old read info panel after info panel about life in the 1500’s castle! Helping your 2 year old look through the arrow slits on the castle turret, and having your 5 yr old climb over the ruins at Kenilworth (yes where lord Dudley tried to woo Elizabeth I !!)
I am glad that we upped our kids interesting bits and I look forward to submitting to the chaos of our next adventure.
What do you do to help your kids become interesting? Comment below and you can win 2 tickets to the Saturday March 31st 7pm showing of “The Cat Came Back” performance at the Vancouver Playhouse (cause I think art theater also helps our kids be cool!)
Comment as many times as you like, and share via twitter and facebook for more chance to win! (tickets will be drawn Feb 15th)
I never tell my kids that they “can’t” do something, rather that they can try whatever they are interested in and we’ll see what happens. My husband has taught them about vegetarianism and nutrition from a *very* young age (my 7 YO has read nutrition labels for over two years now) and we try to spend lots of time outdoors whether it is hiking, gardening, biking or whatever.
Great post!
What an amazing adventure for your family! Our kids have been travelers and road trippers since they were babies too. I always smile at that brave-parent comment. It’s how I grew up and I’m just passing it to my kids. Their brave is our normal
I think theatre helps our kids be cool too so my tip is ‘Tickets Tonight’ for half price tickets on a lot of fun events and productions! People have said I’m brave for hiking with my kids under 3 &5 even… sometimes we have to ‘carry’ them but we like to get out in nature and don’t mind the bears other wildlife we’ve encountered! We do plan travel and hopes of future Missions Trips as they get a little bit older and helping others in 3rd World countries. For now, we talk, plot and plan what that will look like and support giving and fundraising events as we can!
Great Post Julie!
A few years ago, we took our then-five-year-old and our dog on a five-week road trip through the SW States in our camper van. We drove an average of four hours a day, set up camp around noon, and explored wherever we ended up. It was fabulous.
Wow! I think you are brave because reading this gave me anxiety!
I haven’t thought much about how to let my children be brave or become interesting…. having 3 boys I always let them be as messy as possible both in outdoor play and with arts/crafts. We often eat variety of foods and I have taught them they must try one bite of everything. If they don’t like it, fine, they can eat whatever else there is on the table but they must have that bite (even if they’ve tried it before and decided they didn’t like it… )
What an interesting point!
My daugther is 18 months and she is going through a ‘messy exploring’ phase. She likes to drip milk on the floor or draw on the wall.
I realize this is part of her growing up and I encourage her exploration and creativity. I don’t tell her no to doing these things as I don’t want to limit her.
Instead, I set up a safe and controlled enviroment for her to explore where it’s not a big deal to clean up.
From conception the talk of honoring both my hubby’s culture and mine has been a priority.
From the beginning we have pushed both the Polish and English languages in the home and making ‘daddy’s’ food part of our meals. My son will now oddly pull a polish book off the shelf for daddy to read, grab a clump of Sauerkraut from his plate and fill his mouth and digs into Perogies and Kielbasa like no bodies business.
I love that I climb mountains with my son strapped to my back in an Ergo carrier and have snowshoed in our sunny mountains with him as an infant. With the outdoors being the great passion of mine I have hoped to plant the seeds of activity in him at a young age and the smells of the outdoors.
I look forward to seeing my kids go back to Poland with their papa to see where he is from & grow up playing in the North Shore Mountains where I grew up. I smile and think of the things they will tease both of us about as we come from such different backgrounds. But I also know they are going to be travelled, socialized and well rounded kids!
My daughter is young and the world is a fascinating place! I am a typical type A over-planner, and my personal challenge is to slooooow down for my daughter. I try to allow her to stop and examine things, smell them, feel them, taste them (when appropriate). I try my best to encourage and allow for her natural sense of curiosity, which will hopefully give her the confidence and interest to keep exploring new things as she grows.
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