Reply to European families appear so perfect with such well-behaved children

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "European families appear so perfect with such well-behaved children - how do they do it?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I think a lot of this is selection bias and the difference between a vacation with a short flight in your own time zone versus a transatlantic flight and 5-8 hr time change.

I have really well behaved kids and get complimented on them often when we go out to eat or vacation. They do very little scree time and no screens in public ever. They are polite, make pleasant conversation with adults at meals, and will entertain themselves well while DH and I talk or relax.

But not on a vacation in Europe. They get jet lagged and cranky. I recall once being on a train in Denmark with my then 6 year old just melting down, trying to lay down in this crowded train (because she was tired) and I'm trying to lift her up and get her to stop while a bunch of Danish commuters stared at us passively. I can only image what they were thinking.

Another time we let our son who at home early watches TV and loves to read and play outside, sit through an entire meal at a restaurant (family pizza place, not a fancy restaurant at least) with headphones on watching a movie. This was in Italy. We just needed on meal where he wasn't complaining. It was second day of the trip which is always hardest for our kids with a big time change.

This sort of thing never happens on domestic trips or in the Caribbean or Mexico. But the overseas trips get better. Kids get better at the jet lag and you learn what everyone needs to be a better version of themselves.

I try not to compare my family to people who are at home or only traveled a few hours. We just are not in the same situation.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics