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Parenting

Lisa asks: What was your first family getaway like?

Lisa and Peter did it — they booked a night away with the kids. Now Lisa's questioning her brilliant idea.

By Lisa van de Geyn
Lisa asks: What was your first family getaway like?

Photo: fotostorm/iStockphoto

A month or so ago, while in the middle of one of those few-and-far-between "everything's amazing!" days, I heard a commercial on the radio after dropping Addy off at school about a big sale at — yes — Great Wolf Lodge (in Niagara Falls, Ont., about an hour and a half from us).

I immediately called Peter and happily told him about the incredible room rate, and how I want to have more fun with him and the kids, and it would be soooo fun to take them away for the night. He agreed and told me to go ahead and book. I was so excited that I accidentally put the reservation through twice, and (happily) had to call head office to fix my enthusiasm-caused blunder.

While searching for an email a day or two later (in the middle of one of those more common stressful, not-super-exciting days), I noticed the confirmation in my inbox and shook my head. What the hell was I thinking? Why would I schlep a four-year-old and a two-year-old to an indoor water park — a place where I'd have to keep my eyes on the kids at all times, and I'd have to wear a damn swimsuit? (The other day I posted this as my Facebook status: "Is it kosher to wear Spanx under a swimsuit? I'm asking for a friend.") I have enough on my plate, and there's plenty of time for family trips. Why now?

Thanks to my cocktail of meds, still-messed-up hormones and stress, I'm, uh, often easily irritated and don't have a heck of a lot of patience — not conducive to a happy family getaway. Still, I want to do more fun things as a family, so even though I'm a bit nervous and worried that I'll be more anxious than usual when we take off on our 24-hour trip, I'm not cancelling our reservation — we're doing it, and it will be a surprise for the girls.

Have you travelled with toddlers and preschoolers? What was your first family getaway like? Any tips to calm my (patience-less) nerves?

This article was originally published on Feb 26, 2013

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