We finally made it back home at 2am yesterday morning. You would think a three hour flight from LA to Seattle would be easy. But no. We had a three hour delay and lots of time to get creative with the kids in the airport. 🙂 By the time we arrived in Seattle, waited for our luggage, and then another extra hour for one of the car seats, picked up our car, and made the drive home…let’s just say Brian and I were so close to fighting about NOTHING. The icing on the cake is this rotten cough that Pascaline has had (which only starts at bedtime), so we dealt with that until 4am.
The four of us finally woke up around 1pm yesterday. And then reality hit. Brian had made a run to Starbucks, and the kids were asking me question after question…
“Can you fix this mom?”
“Can you make us something else to eat?”
“Can you find me batteries for this new toy?”
“Can you sew my Batman costume, it ripped…wahhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
“Can I take out my new jewelry set?…Can I take out my new Polly Pockets? Mom, have you seen my new Barbie shoes?” (keep in mind that all these “little” things are smaller than your fingernail!)
“I’m hungry. Can I have my vitamins? Can I have some tea with Almond Milk?”
“Where’s my BLANKIE!!! We left it at Uncle Shae Shae’s!!!” (sheer panic and screaming sets in)
I was seriously overwhelmed, I mean seriously OVERWHELMED!!! The reality sunk in that our kids have had nine adults at their disposal for the last seven days, and upon arriving home, we were down to one tired mom. The transition of coming home was BRUTAL!
So I’m asking from one desperate parent to another, what are your travel tips for transitioning kids to being back home. How do you help kids get back into the swing of not having you at their disposal and regular life, work and play happening? You give me some good transition travel tips for kids, and I’ll give you more camera tips!
Sound like a deal? 🙂
p.s. The whole studio has taken the week off and will reopen after the New Year. If you’ve emailed or called we will get back to you after the New Year. I’ve tried to stay on top of email a little, but I’m still at 300 plus emails to reply to. So give me a few days to get back to you. 🙂
Don’t worry Me Ra, things will calm down. You are just too tired yourself to deal with “needers” in your house right now. If you can muster up some energy, do some activity with them and then tell them that after that you are going to take some “mommy” time. You can make the activities last as long or as little as you decide. And you may need to do this rotation a couple times the first day or two. But make sure you tell them it is Mommy time and that unless there is blood somewhere, they have to play with each other or themselves and all their new stuff. Oh-yeah, make dinner time earlier tonight and put them to bed early too! I did this the other night and had sleepers at 6:15pm and 7:10pm. Scott and I played scrabble and drank wine in complete silence. So nice! Anyway, you asked for it and there it was–get some sleep and you will be ready to deal with anything! Time will heal this one!
I love you Wendy!! Thanks so much!!!
Hang in there, Me Ra! It will get easier. Traveling is a pain especially with little ones who really shine on a consistant routine! Do your best to pop them right back into the routine for home and I second the early dinner and early bedtime! Early bedtimes work magical wonders on my little bug!!!
Me Ra – I once took a 10 p.m. flight from Dallas to Seattle so we could maximize our time in Dallas. Bad idea! The kids cried (3 1/2 and 18 months) on the plane and were exhausted when we arrived after midnight. I had to carry two sleeping children and car seats to the baggage claim where they slept on the dirty floor while I got luggage and I had to coerce them awake and they cried like mad until we got to the car. So, now I do not make late night trips home. We travel in the day. I always try to arrive home with at least one or two days at home before we start the daily weekday routine (school, gym, playgroups, etc.). If I am totally whipped, I will put on a DVD for them. I know it is not the ideal, but a happy mommy makes for a happy family. Do what you have to do to keep sane.
I know this won’t help NOW, but I’ve heard that you’re supposed to keep them on their regular schedule DURING the vacation. Ask the adults not to spoil them or give them special treatment/attention while they’re there – that way, when they get back home, there’s not a lot to transition back into. Good luck though!
School starts Wednesday. Send them to play at the neighbors. Rent DVDs. I didn’t say I was the greatest Mom, I just know how that 1000 question day make a mom feel. Hang in there! 🙂
Oh my…let’s see, my favorite tip is to come home at bedtime and sleep all day, but that didn’t help so my second favorite tip is hire a babysitter to get all the energy out : ) A young one with lots of energy : )
If all that fails take them to a McDonalds play thing to get some energy out and to be out of the house for awhile.
I TOTALLY understand. I had a sitter today while I did returns, got my haircut and shopped. I felt like a new person.
Me Ra,
I know this is late but:
Might I suggest a “Family Nap”? Make it fun. Snuggle, read a book, and then all of you take a nap together.
OR…the idea of putting the kids to bed early is a good one. But YOU need to go to bed early, too. Go take a hot bath after they are asleep and relax. Then go to bed. You will feel so much better in the morning. And you can get up earlier than the kids and get some stuff done and when they wake up, you will be ready for the questions and the neediness to start.
Hope this helps. When things get overwhelming like this for me, I need some solitude and rest and I am a much better Mom afterwards.
Kristal
I guess I should clarify. I meant take a nap TODAY. Not right after you had just woken up yesterday. 🙂
I feel your pain Me Ra! The post-holiday slap in the face is tough. :S
A light heart and saying “yes” more often really helps! Everyone needs time to readjust and decompress, big people and little people alike.
Take care!
~jess
I can’t help with parenting advice but wanted to say that I enjoyed your earlier post. Looks like you had a REALLY great holiday! Hey I have some advice…How about a nanny? (just kidding) but I was a nanny in my former life while going to photo school. I enjoyed helping worn out Moms. I think every MOM needs extra help and time OFF for herself at least twice a week (more would be better). Call in the troops!
I find that lightening up on my expecatations for being productive really helps during the transition. Sometimes, just going with the flow is all you can do–even when it seems counterproductive. Also, consider that it will take about the half life of the trip to get back to normal–but it will!
Hang in there!
Wow, good to hear what everyone has to say, we are traveling cross country tomorrow morning, add jet lag to all that. My tip (too late for this trip) is to travel early in the morning/day. Hard to get up, but less likely to have delays (been there for that one). Last delay we bought little airplanes at the airport store and then with another delay on the plane were lucky enough to be invited into the co-pilot seat by the pilot!
I second, babysitter at home, nap, being tired makes everything feel unmanagable! We have 2 days to unwind, translate, playdates, then back to school!
Good luck, in a day or two it will be better! and Happy New Year!
You are all WONDERFUL!!! I love these tips, they are gold, just gold! Thank you for sharing all your hard earned wisdom! There’s not much better than hearing what others have learned along the way! We are totally going to try some of this stuff for our trip in January to Vail, Colorado!
Truck tires….
Truck tires….