Ahh, summertime. When most families plan that epic vacation or road trip your kids will never forget. I remember my own mom researching sites to see, eat, stay, and places to visit. Every day was planned down to the very last detail. Heck, when we went to Alaska, she even had a book that pointed out travel information at almost every mile marker! It’s funny to me now that I am a mom; I catch myself doing the same {hello, first birthday party}. It’s like every little detail is of such importance to us.
As for the kids, welp, they don’t remember any of that stuff.
When Things Go Wrong
It cracks me up, because to this day, my family still talks about everything that went WRONG on all those trips. Hardly do I remember the restaurants or the scenic outlooks, or the cool hotels. Instead, I remember ripping the awning off our rental motorhome in the middle of Colorado, ten of us sleeping in a snow coach through Yellowstone because the windows were so frosted we couldn’t see anything, and reeling in a fish for hours only to have the captain chuck it back off the boat while everyone laughed in amusement. Other memories include horrible games of charades that ending up in fights, luggage stacked past our heads, getting lost, wicked storms stuck on a boat, drunk people at dinner.
You’d swear we were the Griswolds.
The Disasters Make the Memories
As much of a disaster as it probably seemed to my poor parents at the time, I really think those are what made the memories. Let’s be honest, how many times has your family sat around and discussed the perfect parts of the vacation? It’s much more fun to be in tears from laughter. And then to later ask, “I can’t believe we thought that was a good idea?!” I think the fact that everyone together made it through those moments is what helps create that infamous “family bond.”
After all, this is the point of those trips. Sitting in a stuffy restaurant or screaming because you’re so cold from the “glacial facial” you got when you fell off the boat while your dad tells you to stop whining?
Well, I’d take the latter any day.
Celebrate the Misfortunes
So, don’t sweat it, momma if you spend the first four hours of your trip getting your muffler re-attached, or the fact that your kid ate s’mores and chips the entire weekend you went camping because the refrigerator broke, or you forgot ice for the cooler. Who cares that every picture from a week’s long vacation is with everyone in the same clothes because everyone was too busy running wild to even remember to change. That’s the good stuff. The nitty gritty is what makes childhood fun, a true adventure of sorts. I’m sure your kids will be brats {something I am sure to find out about, can you say payback?}; you may even be called the worst mom in the world.
But, guess what? The good wouldn’t be as good without the mess sprinkled in between.
Do you have any big summer road trips or vacations planned with your family? Or a family vacation gone bad that is one of your favorite memories? Be sure to share them below, I’d love to hear about them!
