The necessities<\/strong><\/h1>\nFamily<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis one\u2019s obvious, but also not. I\u2019m not sure how, but I\u2019ve managed to let entire family trips pass me by like a lucid dream. Between planning potty breaks and rental cars and child-proofing like MacGyver, I\u2019ve forgotten about the people.<\/p>\n
If the point of traveling is to get up close and personal with the ones you love, then that should probably include some eye contact and conversation about something other than logistics. It takes more conscious effort that you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n
Safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cWater, water everywhere and not drop to drink.\u201d Coleridge was a poet and a visionary.<\/p>\n
Between pools and oceans and amusement parks and parking lots, I\u2019ve had my fair share of desperate situations. Safety has to come first. The kids have to know the rules. No walking anywhere without holding a parent\u2019s hand. No swimming without us. And no drinking the pool water, because we\u2019ve all seen \u201cCaddyshack\u201d and that\u2019s just gross.<\/p>\n
Culture<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf I\u2019m going to Charleston, South Carolina, I\u2019m going to see Fort Sumter and walk the old city streets. If I\u2019m going to Maryland, I\u2019m going to eat some crab.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to seek out the old familiars in unfamiliar places, but a McDonald\u2019s PlayPlace and a trampoline park will be the same everywhere. You might as well take the tour, eat the weird and awesome food, and let that one experience be different from all the rest.<\/p>\n
Sleep<\/strong><\/h2>\nI am pro-sleep, and I don\u2019t care who knows it. Naps and bedtimes don\u2019t have to happen at the same times with the same military precision, but they have to happen. We all need to be able to hit the re-set button or nothing and nobody will be any fun.<\/p>\n
This advice comes from experience. We\u2019ve tried it both ways. Throwing caution to the wind did not work with any of our internal clocks.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/familybeachtrip.jpg?resize=543%2C422\")
<\/p>\n
The amenities<\/strong><\/h1>\nPictures<\/strong><\/h2>\nI mean, sure, a click on the old iPhone isn\u2019t going to hurt anybody. But the ritual of the Christmas-card-quality beach shot or the staging of \u201cquirky\u201d Instagram moments can ruin you.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a mental shot is enough. Your kids will thank you when their internet footprint is one pixel smaller due to your self-control.<\/p>\n
Work<\/strong><\/h2>\nRaise your hand if you can work anywhere. Me, too. I work in my head even as my body is at rest. And sometimes that\u2019s okay. The best-laid plans were hatched by the likes of us constant creators.<\/p>\n
But! That doesn\u2019t extend to emails and texts and everything else that goes along with the gig. Brainstorming is one thing. Gripping your phone like you\u2019re on call for the Bat Signal is another (she says as she gently lays it aside).<\/p>\n
Hot spots, or not<\/strong><\/h2>\nListen, when you\u2019re checking a party of five into a restaurant at 5 p.m., you\u2019ve got to give up the idea of cool. It\u2019s you and the octogenarians for the early bird special. Sure, some people may be headed to the trendy spots with real table cloths and glasses that don\u2019t come with lids, but that\u2019s just not you right now.<\/p>\n
Be a trendsetter when the kids are old enough to watch themselves. In the meantime, enjoy the nightcap with your significant other after bedtime and watch a little \u201cWestworld\u201d with your feet up.<\/p>\n
Guilt<\/strong><\/h2>\nOkay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
This one\u2019s obvious, but also not. I\u2019m not sure how, but I\u2019ve managed to let entire family trips pass me by like a lucid dream. Between planning potty breaks and rental cars and child-proofing like MacGyver, I\u2019ve forgotten about the people.<\/p>\n
If the point of traveling is to get up close and personal with the ones you love, then that should probably include some eye contact and conversation about something other than logistics. It takes more conscious effort that you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n
Safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cWater, water everywhere and not drop to drink.\u201d Coleridge was a poet and a visionary.<\/p>\n
Between pools and oceans and amusement parks and parking lots, I\u2019ve had my fair share of desperate situations. Safety has to come first. The kids have to know the rules. No walking anywhere without holding a parent\u2019s hand. No swimming without us. And no drinking the pool water, because we\u2019ve all seen \u201cCaddyshack\u201d and that\u2019s just gross.<\/p>\n
Culture<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf I\u2019m going to Charleston, South Carolina, I\u2019m going to see Fort Sumter and walk the old city streets. If I\u2019m going to Maryland, I\u2019m going to eat some crab.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to seek out the old familiars in unfamiliar places, but a McDonald\u2019s PlayPlace and a trampoline park will be the same everywhere. You might as well take the tour, eat the weird and awesome food, and let that one experience be different from all the rest.<\/p>\n
Sleep<\/strong><\/h2>\nI am pro-sleep, and I don\u2019t care who knows it. Naps and bedtimes don\u2019t have to happen at the same times with the same military precision, but they have to happen. We all need to be able to hit the re-set button or nothing and nobody will be any fun.<\/p>\n
This advice comes from experience. We\u2019ve tried it both ways. Throwing caution to the wind did not work with any of our internal clocks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The amenities<\/strong><\/h1>\nPictures<\/strong><\/h2>\nI mean, sure, a click on the old iPhone isn\u2019t going to hurt anybody. But the ritual of the Christmas-card-quality beach shot or the staging of \u201cquirky\u201d Instagram moments can ruin you.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a mental shot is enough. Your kids will thank you when their internet footprint is one pixel smaller due to your self-control.<\/p>\n
Work<\/strong><\/h2>\nRaise your hand if you can work anywhere. Me, too. I work in my head even as my body is at rest. And sometimes that\u2019s okay. The best-laid plans were hatched by the likes of us constant creators.<\/p>\n
But! That doesn\u2019t extend to emails and texts and everything else that goes along with the gig. Brainstorming is one thing. Gripping your phone like you\u2019re on call for the Bat Signal is another (she says as she gently lays it aside).<\/p>\n
Hot spots, or not<\/strong><\/h2>\nListen, when you\u2019re checking a party of five into a restaurant at 5 p.m., you\u2019ve got to give up the idea of cool. It\u2019s you and the octogenarians for the early bird special. Sure, some people may be headed to the trendy spots with real table cloths and glasses that don\u2019t come with lids, but that\u2019s just not you right now.<\/p>\n
Be a trendsetter when the kids are old enough to watch themselves. In the meantime, enjoy the nightcap with your significant other after bedtime and watch a little \u201cWestworld\u201d with your feet up.<\/p>\n
Guilt<\/strong><\/h2>\nOkay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
If I\u2019m going to Charleston, South Carolina, I\u2019m going to see Fort Sumter and walk the old city streets. If I\u2019m going to Maryland, I\u2019m going to eat some crab.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to seek out the old familiars in unfamiliar places, but a McDonald\u2019s PlayPlace and a trampoline park will be the same everywhere. You might as well take the tour, eat the weird and awesome food, and let that one experience be different from all the rest.<\/p>\n
Sleep<\/strong><\/h2>\nI am pro-sleep, and I don\u2019t care who knows it. Naps and bedtimes don\u2019t have to happen at the same times with the same military precision, but they have to happen. We all need to be able to hit the re-set button or nothing and nobody will be any fun.<\/p>\n
This advice comes from experience. We\u2019ve tried it both ways. Throwing caution to the wind did not work with any of our internal clocks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The amenities<\/strong><\/h1>\nPictures<\/strong><\/h2>\nI mean, sure, a click on the old iPhone isn\u2019t going to hurt anybody. But the ritual of the Christmas-card-quality beach shot or the staging of \u201cquirky\u201d Instagram moments can ruin you.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a mental shot is enough. Your kids will thank you when their internet footprint is one pixel smaller due to your self-control.<\/p>\n
Work<\/strong><\/h2>\nRaise your hand if you can work anywhere. Me, too. I work in my head even as my body is at rest. And sometimes that\u2019s okay. The best-laid plans were hatched by the likes of us constant creators.<\/p>\n
But! That doesn\u2019t extend to emails and texts and everything else that goes along with the gig. Brainstorming is one thing. Gripping your phone like you\u2019re on call for the Bat Signal is another (she says as she gently lays it aside).<\/p>\n
Hot spots, or not<\/strong><\/h2>\nListen, when you\u2019re checking a party of five into a restaurant at 5 p.m., you\u2019ve got to give up the idea of cool. It\u2019s you and the octogenarians for the early bird special. Sure, some people may be headed to the trendy spots with real table cloths and glasses that don\u2019t come with lids, but that\u2019s just not you right now.<\/p>\n
Be a trendsetter when the kids are old enough to watch themselves. In the meantime, enjoy the nightcap with your significant other after bedtime and watch a little \u201cWestworld\u201d with your feet up.<\/p>\n
Guilt<\/strong><\/h2>\nOkay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\nPictures<\/strong><\/h2>\nI mean, sure, a click on the old iPhone isn\u2019t going to hurt anybody. But the ritual of the Christmas-card-quality beach shot or the staging of \u201cquirky\u201d Instagram moments can ruin you.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a mental shot is enough. Your kids will thank you when their internet footprint is one pixel smaller due to your self-control.<\/p>\n
Work<\/strong><\/h2>\nRaise your hand if you can work anywhere. Me, too. I work in my head even as my body is at rest. And sometimes that\u2019s okay. The best-laid plans were hatched by the likes of us constant creators.<\/p>\n
But! That doesn\u2019t extend to emails and texts and everything else that goes along with the gig. Brainstorming is one thing. Gripping your phone like you\u2019re on call for the Bat Signal is another (she says as she gently lays it aside).<\/p>\n
Hot spots, or not<\/strong><\/h2>\nListen, when you\u2019re checking a party of five into a restaurant at 5 p.m., you\u2019ve got to give up the idea of cool. It\u2019s you and the octogenarians for the early bird special. Sure, some people may be headed to the trendy spots with real table cloths and glasses that don\u2019t come with lids, but that\u2019s just not you right now.<\/p>\n
Be a trendsetter when the kids are old enough to watch themselves. In the meantime, enjoy the nightcap with your significant other after bedtime and watch a little \u201cWestworld\u201d with your feet up.<\/p>\n
Guilt<\/strong><\/h2>\nOkay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Raise your hand if you can work anywhere. Me, too. I work in my head even as my body is at rest. And sometimes that\u2019s okay. The best-laid plans were hatched by the likes of us constant creators.<\/p>\n
But! That doesn\u2019t extend to emails and texts and everything else that goes along with the gig. Brainstorming is one thing. Gripping your phone like you\u2019re on call for the Bat Signal is another (she says as she gently lays it aside).<\/p>\n
Hot spots, or not<\/strong><\/h2>\nListen, when you\u2019re checking a party of five into a restaurant at 5 p.m., you\u2019ve got to give up the idea of cool. It\u2019s you and the octogenarians for the early bird special. Sure, some people may be headed to the trendy spots with real table cloths and glasses that don\u2019t come with lids, but that\u2019s just not you right now.<\/p>\n
Be a trendsetter when the kids are old enough to watch themselves. In the meantime, enjoy the nightcap with your significant other after bedtime and watch a little \u201cWestworld\u201d with your feet up.<\/p>\n
Guilt<\/strong><\/h2>\nOkay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nWhat do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Okay, so sometimes you\u2019re going to need to check those work emails. And you\u2019re going to lose your cool when the\u00a0minivan DVD player is on the fritz. And you\u2019re not going to hit every item on the vacation bucket list. And you might eat more chicken fingers than fresh seafood at the beach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all okay.<\/p>\n
At least you made the herculean effort to get everyone out of the house and on the road and into a new space to try a few things. What\u2019s a good vacation without a few horror stories to take home with you anyway?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, vacations will come and go. Some will be worth remembering, and some will be worth serious psychological suppression. Family, though\u2026they\u2019re for life. We might as well pick the things to care about and let the rest go before we lose it, National Lampoon-style.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
*Linking up with Amanda<\/a>. This article originally appeared in Parent.co.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n I was at the beach recently with my toes in the sand watching my three-year-old twins attack what they thought was a live crab. It was actually a carcass. They are savages. With the breeze and the birds and the reef in the background, I couldn\u2019t make myself care. This was the first time I\u2019d sat down on a vacation in five years. With three kids under five, sitting wasn\u2019t an option. If I could …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[86,26],"tags":[46,55,54,84,135,237],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/lake-692182_1920-1-e1495236100880.jpg?fit=1915%2C1032&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Du","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3144,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/3144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What do you care most about on your vacations?<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"