Anniversary trip without toddler

[Anonymous]

My husband and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary next spring, and my parents are urging us to take a trip as a couple while they watch our son, who will be 20 months old. My husband loves the idea, and is pushing for 4 days 5 nights in Paris (or similar).

I also love to travel, but I worry about my little guy. His grandparents have taken care of him before when daycare had planned closings, but never alone and overnight. They also live in Boston and only see him every 6 weeks or so. So while my son knows them, it isn't a day-to-day relationship.

They would come down to our house and take care of him in familiar surroundings. They are very good about following instructions and keeping to a routine, and my mother is a nurse. Temperament-wise, our son is pretty adaptable. He also goes to an in-home daycare 3 days per week, so he is used to be cared for by someone other than my husband and I.

I am inclined to book the trip and try to enjoy myself. Is this OK? Am I being terrible and selfish? DH says, "He'll be fine, mountain out of a molehill yadda yadda..."

For those who might suggest taking the munchkin to Europe with us, I am just not up to it. He does OK on a quick flight to Boston, but the stress I would suffer in bringing him trans-Atlantic at this age would overwhelm the enjoyment. I would rather just not go.

[Anonymous]

Could you try a short weekend trip over the holidays and see how he does with the grandparents and how you do without him? Depending on how that goes, you could book your anniversary trip.

If it were me, I'd plan something within 2-3 hour driving distance from parents so I could come home if need be.

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't think you are selfish, but you are not alone in your concerns. However, it sounds like and your parents are responsible and trustworthy and your son will probably love having the one on one time with his grandparents. You certainly won't regret having that one on one time with your husband again. My husband and I were just talking about something similar this past weekend. We have been away twice since our 4 and 2 year olds were born - once for one night and once for 2 nights. Now my husband wants to go to London during my Spring Break (I am a teacher). I am thrilled with the idea of travelling overseas again since I haven't been out of the country since 2004, but it also makes me soooo nervous to be so far away. I do like the idea of London, though, because there are so many flights to the U.S. that if we had to get back quickly, it would not be a problem. Paris is probably similar in that regard.

[Anonymous]

15:04, that's a good idea. My parents will be coming down for Christmas week, so maybe my DH and I should go to a nearby BnB overnight to see how they do flying solo!

15:13, flight availability for a quick return is one of the main determinants of our destination choice. London is actually in the running, but we will probably will succumb to the allure of "April in Paris!" Part of the reason is that we actually spent a couple days in Paris together back in '98, but we were both extremely ill at the time. We were returning from Turkey at the time, and had decided on an extended layover in Paris (no kids at the time, of course). Unfortunately, we ate something from an Istanbul street market before departing that gave us food poisoning. So our time in Paris revolved around taking turns in the bathroom and staggering to the pharmacy.

[Anonymous]

Go and enjoy!

My mom has come several times to stay with our DD while we have traveled for vacations. The first time was when DD was a little over a year and we went skiing for close to a week.

The biggest challenges were writing up "what to expect" for my mom (schedule, what she'd eat, etc). And then a little bit of re-training our child not to be quite as spoiled when we returned.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your parents would take great care of your DC- I think you should go. I would actually try to go for more than 5 days if I were you b/c it is a long flight to Paris and the jet lag is exhausting.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Well, we booked at night at L'Auberge Provencale (a BnB) for the day after Christmas. We had a gift certificate from bnbfinder.com that had been gathering dust, and my parents will still be in town. So this will be the dry run!

[Anonymous]

Definitly do it. We did it when our DS was this age (went for even longer) and everyone was fine. I think it gets harder when they get older. Right now he won't even know you're gone. Go and enjoy!