The other day I overheard some young moms talking about
vacations. With school out for the summer, the race is on to find
the fun.
”
We booked a Disney cruise,
”
offered one mom.
”
They have onboard activities for the kids, which means Arthur
and I can have some time to ourselves.
”
The other day I overheard some young moms talking about vacations. With school out for the summer, the race is on to find the fun.
“We booked a Disney cruise,” offered one mom. “They have onboard activities for the kids, which means Arthur and I can have some time to ourselves.”
“I don’t know about cruising,” replied her friend. “We’re flying to Maui. The flight with the kids will be hell, but at least it’ll be over in a few hours and we can hit the beach.”
“We thought about a road trip to Disneyland,” another mom mused. “But five hours cooped up in the SUV with the kids? Even with the rear-seat entertainment system they’ll be bored with movies and video games before we even leave the neighborhood!”
“I know,” sympathized the other moms. “It’s so HARD. We need a vacation for PARENTS!”
It was with admirable restraint that I didn’t leap in and yell at the top of my lungs, “Are you freaking KIDDING me???”
Yes; these days parents haven’t a clue when it comes to family vacations. I mean, they have it so easy! Back in the day, parents recognized that a family “vacation” was way more challenging than simply staying home. Seriously.
Take the first road trip we made with our daughters, then ages 5 and 9 – a three-day drive to Colorado to visit family. Accompanying us on the road was our dog, a 5-year-old lhasa apso with an attitude.
I observed the first red flag during packing. Because we were taking our big – really big! – Dodge van conversion (yep, we were stylin’ back then), our daughters bargained like top-level negotiators rehearsing for a summit at Camp David. In essence, they fought to bring along every toy that had ever crossed their paths.
“That Barbie doll doesn’t even have a head,” I argued.
“But she’s my FAVORITE!” whined my 5-year old. Well. Who am I to argue that dolls with physical challenges don’t have their rights? So Headless Barbie came along, as well as a few dozen other favorite Barbies and their accompanying wardrobes. Of course Armless Ken and the other Ken were part of the entourage.
Also mandatory were board and card games, books, the VCR and a collection of movies. My husband and I were allotted a speck of room in one corner of the van for a small suitcase of our clothing. The fun part about bringing ALL the playthings on the trip was that ALL the playthings had to be brought into the motel every night so the girls wouldn’t get “bored.” Sometimes we nearly forgot to bring in our moody dog that spent the trip sprawled on one of the van’s comfy captain’s chairs.
The miles dragged on uneventfully if you don’t count the time our 5-year-old flipped on the CB radio when we stopped for gas. “MAYDAY! MAYDAY!!” she shouted into the microphone. “10-4, GOOD BUDDY,” girlfriend blasted as I lunged for the mike.
“OK, let’s get out of here FAST!” I pleaded to my bewildered spouse when he climbed back into the van. “Don’t ask; just drive,” I warned.
Onboard our van conversion was a built-in refrigerator so along the way I could fill orders for snacks and drinks. Reeling my way through the van’s interior I became the trip’s token flight attendant. I could pour juice at 75 miles an hour and balance a plate of sandwiches while weaving through 11,000-foot mountain passes.
When we needed entertainment, there was the stylishly built-in eight-track stereo system. The fact that cassette tapes had recently surpassed eight-tracks was a non-issue; before the trip I found a cassette adapter, thus allowing miles of music to keep us happy. As Willie Nelson crooned his dreamy, “You Were Always on My Mind” for approximately the 67th time (Hey! We were populating the world with Barbies; we couldn’t afford tons of cassettes), I noted an unusual quiet emanating from the backseat. I glanced rearward to see if the girls had fallen asleep.
Well, no. Doing a slow dance on the van’s mega-cool retractable table, the two Kens were engaged in a lovely waltz to Willie’s romantic tune. Each holding a doll, my daughters whirled the Kens in sweeping ballroom movements, oblivious to my stunned stare. Even Armless Ken appeared to be keeping up despite his lack of appendages. I determined it best to keep quiet and let the Kens have their moment.
Now I can’t say I remember much about the actual vacation aside from the drive, except I think our cantankerous dog chased my brother out of his own house once or twice. But the main thing on my mind during all those miles on the road? Yep! Getting back home to rest up from our fun and relaxing family vacation.
