Not doing a real vacation this summer
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
It sounds like your kids are not beach people, at least not right now. Which is fine. Mine aren’t either, and when they were little, they did exactly the same thing as what your kids did. I shared your frustration. After a couple of experiences like that, I started looking for options other than the beach for vacation. One year we did a cabin in the Shenandoahs, another in West Virginia. The weather was more tolerable for us then the beach was, and that there was plenty of shade and water to splash in if the kids wanted. For my kids, the beach is just too much sun and heat for too much time. These other vacation options were not necessarily what I would’ve chosen without kids, but were very relaxing for my husband and me, and inexpensive. We also spent a week every year years at Deer Valley YMCA Family Camp in Pennsylvania, which was perfect for everyone. Consider other options that will work well for the kids, and give you and your husband the break that you need. |
Anonymous
Not PP, but Americans are depressing because so many do not take vacations of any length. PP commented that when she was a kid, they never had a week long vacation. That is terrible. Leisure is just as important as work is. |
Anonymous
| My kids are 8 and 12. We’re going to Hawaii this year. We are NOT staying in a mega resort. My kids would be thrilled to watch tv and go to the pool all day. I found a Airbnb with no WiFi, no tv, and no pool. So their choice is to come along on the outings or sit in apt all day and read a book. Since neither child enjoys reading, I’m betting they will come on the outings. For out last 3 nights, I did book us into a resort where they can play in the pool all day. |
Anonymous
Well no, what you said was that your kids didn't like the beach so you're just not going on vacation anywhere this year. Most people don't think that beach trips are the only kind of vacation you can take. I mean, yeah, the years my kids were really tiny and I didn't get to go anywhere I was climbing the walls. I love traveling, it drives me batty if I don't get out of the DC area a few times a year. |
Anonymous
This. I'd either pay for a grandma to come stay at the house, or pass through their city on our way to some fabulous vacation by ourselves. |
Anonymous
| I would not skip vacation, because I need to get out of DC from time to time. I love the beach. If my kids didn’t, I might still plan a beach vacation, but possibly talk to my spouse about how I want to be able to go to the beach, so maybe we plan to have a little solo time on vacation where each of us can do what we want unencumbered by the kids. Then I get to enjoy the beach without the kids, which frankly is much better than beach time with the kids! |
Anonymous
|
Not all beach vacations are equal.
Local beaches: crowds and rough waves. Caribbean beaches: far less people, fancy chairs and umbrellas, waiters, and calm water plus snorkeling, paddle boarding, etc. See the difference? |
Anonymous
|
Smart move OP. Spend some of the savings on babysitters and have a few summer nights out without the kids. Take a couple of days and call them "family staycation days"- go to the pool, out for lunch and dinner, no housework or projects. Maybe do an overnight to Hershey or something- stay in a nice hotel with a pool and do the park on day one and enjoy the pool on day two.
Ignore the snarky posters that call you rigid, etc.. you are just being smart. |
Anonymous
| Take them camping. That's a great vacation. |
Anonymous
Yes. Last year we didn't take a family vacation. "Regret" is a strong word, but I would say that I missed it. We were moving and between setting up the new house, etc, it just seemed like staying home would be easier. However, I have a hard time just relaxing at home, and it seemed as though we never got a break from our routine. I think dc spent too much time sitting around the house. I wish that we had taken a vacation, even if it was nearby. The last time we went to the beach, DC and I probably actually went to the beach 2-3 times. I'm not really a beach person, nor is DC. That's fine, we had a good time hanging out at the pool and reading books. The idea for me is to get away from the house and my "to do" list there. There were people in our family who went to the beach all day every day, and they had a good time, as well. What wasn't as good was when the adults who are "beach people" forced the kids who aren't "beach people" to go to the beach. Nobody was happy. You're at the stage when the kids need constant supervision, and that isn't as fun anywhere. It will get better when the kids are older, but maybe, in the meantime, you need a vacation that has a little more structure/activity. Go to a city and go sightseeing. Or, maybe take a cruise and send the kids to the kids' club? |
Anonymous
| We do several smaller vacations because it works better with my partner's schedules. Like your children I prefer air conditioning and the pool to the beach so we do a bit of both |
Anonymous
Are you saying that there are no families in Europe who never travel for vacations? Because, except for the very poor, not traveling is a choice, and has little to do with "leisure." I grew up very lower middle/middle class (not DCUM "middle class") and we took vacations every year. They were very inexpensive -- visit relatives who lived near the shore, go camping, drive to nearby cities -- but we left for a week or more. I know very well to do people who don't travel, because they don't like it or at least don't place a value on it. That doesn't mean that they don't have "leisure." It just doesn't involve travel. In fact, I know lots of people who live in more rural areas who rarely travel very far who have way more "leisure" (camping, fishing, hanging out at a local lake/beach) than the well-to-do people in DC. I suspect that there are people all over the world who are like that. I don't understand why you find other people's choices "depressing" just because they are different from yours. |
Anonymous
I’m op. We were not at a local beach. We were in the southwest coast of Florida in the gulf. We had taken beach vacations the previous two years as well (since youngest turned 2) and those were fine but the kids were just not feeling it last year I guess. It wasn’t the Caribbean but it wasn’t a massively crowded rough beach either. |
Anonymous
What an imagination on you!! Burned out dh? I didn’t even mention him in my OP. The (then) 4 year old isn’t unadventurous, she’s actually the most fun and down to do stuff usually. Where on earth you got this is beyond me... |
Anonymous
|
Agree with those who said that you planned the wrong kind of vacation with your family. We have a beach house and love the beach. But my family would hate a week long beach vacation. If we went for a week, we’d probably only beach it three times over the nine days.
Our week long vacations are much more active. We mainly do vacations where we can do some hiking and other activities. When we travel we typically book a lodge in a campground instead of a hotel. No TV and lots of outside activity. |