Parenting is the hardest job you’ll ever love. While most people won’t think twice about taking time off from their 9-5 job, many parents won’t consider a trip away from the kids according to a Kayak.com survey. For parents that do get away, many suffer from guilt at least part of the time.

A vacation without the kids is good for parents and children so Kayak.com partnered with Family Travel Expert Eileen Ogintz to provide a list of tips to help make a trip away from the kids easier on everyone. For more travel advice from Eileen, visit her website http://www.takingthekids.com/.

Tips for Parents

1. Get Over The Guilt. Making time for yourselves helps you to be more effective parents and happier spouses. You come back rested and revitalized and that’s as good for the kids as for you. It’s also beneficial for the kids to see they can survive without you and that you have interests aside from them! Such brief separations can help foster kids’ first steps toward independence and help them build bonds with other adults in their lives, whether grandma or a favorite neighbor.
2. Start with long weekend getaway. Don’t plan a two week trek across Africa for your first trip away. It will be better for baby and parents to start with a three or four-night getaway and work your way up to a week or more away.
3. Be available via cell phone, email or pager but don’t call every minute! Check in once or twice a day. The sitter will reach you if necessary. Make sure the sitter has all of the appropriate phone numbers (and directions when necessary) for the doctor, dentist, poison control center, police, fire department, and neighbors who can help if needed.
4. Choose a place for your getaway that’s not teeming with kids—a luxury hotel in a nearby city; a tour of wine country; or a small, upscale B&B. Ask before you book if they expect many kids in house those days.
5. Don’t venture too far. In case you want or have to get back in a hurry, choose a destination within an easy drive or direct flight away from your child. If you do fly, book an early flight and choose a destination with lots of airlift so weather or mechanical issues won’t mean an extra night away.
6. Don’t panic. The hardest part about leaving your kids is worrying about it for weeks prior to your trip. Focus on the positive aspects of your vacation, rather than the separation. Think about sleeping in, reconnecting with your partner, reading a book, wearing clothes that aren’t machine washable, enjoying a glass of wine and adult conversation… It will be hard to say goodbye but you’ll feel much better once you’re on the plane taking a nap (when’s the last time you did that?)
7. Pack a photo. While time away from the kids means more kisses for your partner, you’ll still want to kiss your little one each night.
8. Single parents need a break as much as couples do. See if another single parent you know would like to watch your child while you’re away and then you can reciprocate later.
9. Bring back cool gifts. Your kids will have something to look forward to in addition to your return. Don’t forget the sitter.

Tips for Kids

1. The right sitter is the key to a successful getaway. You need someone who is responsible and savvy, and someone who has their respect whether they’re two or 12. This is not the time to try out a new sitter, leave the baby in unfamiliar surroundings or invite grandma to stay if she hasn’t seen your young child in months. Consider a favorite college-aged sitter or teacher at your child’s preschool or day care center. Older children might prefer to stay with a friend.
2. Create opportunities beforehand for your child to stay with the sitter for an afternoon or evening so they won’t be upset when you leave.
3. Invite the sitter to stay at your house, especially if your child is young, so he’ll be surrounded by familiar objects—crib sheets, night light, toys. If the baby must stay elsewhere, take their favorite things along. Even a crib sheet can make a baby feel more secure.
4. Keep to the kids’ routine as much as possible with regular nap, meal and bedtimes. That’s especially comforting to young children.
5. Record a DVD with your face and voice telling a favorite story or singing a favorite song.
6. A calendar can help your toddler mark off the days till your return. Have the caregiver “help” her put a sticker on each day. Another strategy: Put a pair of rolled socks in a shoebox for each day you will be gone. Tell the child to take out a pair each day: When the shoebox is empty, you’ll be back.
7. Lipstick kisses. Leave “lipstick” kisses on an index card on each child’s bed: The kids get mom’s goodnight kisses even when she’s away.
8. Arrange for breaks for the sitter, especially if grandparents have taken the job. Play dates at someone else’s house are ideal. Also arrange for backup for the backup sitter—in case the sitter gets sick or has a family emergency.
9. Make the time apart special for the kids, especially preschoolers and grade schoolers, whether that means a trip to their favorite ice cream place, toy store, playground or movie. This is not the time to quarrel about what they eat.
10. Go over safety guidelines with everyone. Make sure older kids understand the ground rules—what’s permissible and what’s not.

For more tips on blissful getaways without the kids visit
www.takingthekids.com

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.