My vacation is rapidly approaching, so I've spent some time thinking about past vacations. I've come to the conclusion that vacations, like kids, come in stages. Like stages with kids, some stages of vacations are more fun than others. As I said, this is just me. By now, you can tell that this is not a serious nor an educational blog, but see if any of this sounds familiar to you.

When your kids are really little, there may be a temptation to avoid all the hassle and stay home, or in my case, to only travel to visit the grandparents. The fact that we had no money to spend on vacations made the whole thing pretty simple. Also, they had their own stock of toys and duplicates of things like cribs and playpens. As the kids got older, we began to travel, pretty much to Disney World and other child-friendly places. Vacations were a lot more fun, but they still had their moments! Traveling was difficult, because while the places were friendly, after a few hours, the kids were not! And I always lost the coin-toss and had to sit on the plane with the child who could not entertain himself.

Vacations with older kids can be fun for parents. The kids are great to be with, their attention span is long and they can deal well with all types of situations. Not so much fun for kids though! I was so suprised to find that I was irritating and difficult to be with for long periods of time. College was another story! They wanted to go on vacation, but not with us. Anyway, there was that money issue again. Whatever made them think that anyone could afford college and spring break!

This next, but by no means last stage was most interesting and educational. Adult children, just starting out in the world of work with little vacation time or money, will go on a family vacation. They will go just about anywhere, enjoy themselves, and even thank you for the opportunity. But the best stage so far was when an adult child called and said, "Mom, I'm going to the Cape for a short vacation. I don't want to go alone so come with me. My treat!"

If you are at some point in your family vacation stages, especially with April vacation coming soon, the library has books with suggestions for you :

Backpacking with babies and small children by Goldie Silverman
Fun places to go with children in New England by Diane Bair
Mainely kids : a guide to family fun in Southern Maine by Crystal Ward Kent
Bicycling with kids in DownEast Maine by Roger Turner
Around Boston with kids by Lisa Oppenheimer
The family fun guide to Las Vegas by Connie Emerson