While I would say that in many ways I am an old-fashioned parent, I also feel that my kids deserve some say in some things. When we travel, we discuss as a family where we want to go. We all put ideas out there and then make a group decision, based on everyone's input.
Normally, after that, I do the planning. I research the area, find hotels or cottages, restaurants and outings, historic sites and cultural things to do.
This year, however, I decided to put part of that on the girls.
We are visiting several cities this year, so I let the girls each pick one that they would like to be an "expert" on. I created these handy-dandy sheets to help them research the area. Each night at dinner, they report back to us what they have learned and we discuss the options of things we may want to investigate more or places we want to see or restaurants we may want to try.
Jason is considering giving each girl a budget and having them plan our meals and outings in the city with the challenge of staying on budget. But that may be tricky since we are foodies who tend to really enjoy fine dining ;-)
If you would like to take a look at the sheets and possibly print them out for your kids to work on for your next vacation, I created a PDF to share with you:
As you can imagine, being part of the planning of our vacation has made Allie and Piper even more excited about it. So, I also created a "30 Day Vacation Countdown" which they began a month before we leave. It gives them something fun to do every day to keep the momentum of excitement up and it also helps us all keep track of how far away or close our vacation is ;-)
I hope you enjoy some special bonding time with your kids this summer, whether you go on vacation or not! Our kids are only kids for so long and it's so important to make the most out of the time we have with them under our care!
Normally, after that, I do the planning. I research the area, find hotels or cottages, restaurants and outings, historic sites and cultural things to do.
This year, however, I decided to put part of that on the girls.
We are visiting several cities this year, so I let the girls each pick one that they would like to be an "expert" on. I created these handy-dandy sheets to help them research the area. Each night at dinner, they report back to us what they have learned and we discuss the options of things we may want to investigate more or places we want to see or restaurants we may want to try.
Jason is considering giving each girl a budget and having them plan our meals and outings in the city with the challenge of staying on budget. But that may be tricky since we are foodies who tend to really enjoy fine dining ;-)
If you would like to take a look at the sheets and possibly print them out for your kids to work on for your next vacation, I created a PDF to share with you:
As you can imagine, being part of the planning of our vacation has made Allie and Piper even more excited about it. So, I also created a "30 Day Vacation Countdown" which they began a month before we leave. It gives them something fun to do every day to keep the momentum of excitement up and it also helps us all keep track of how far away or close our vacation is ;-)
I hope you enjoy some special bonding time with your kids this summer, whether you go on vacation or not! Our kids are only kids for so long and it's so important to make the most out of the time we have with them under our care!
