Vacationing With Children

Vacationing with children can be a lot of fun, if you spend a little bit of time planning ahead. This will make the vacation more fun and relaxing for everyone involved.

Traveling with children will be a memorable event – the question is “What kind?” Your chances of a lifetime memory you will cherish increase significantly with some advance communication and preparation.

The book, Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever, outlines a five-step process you can apply to organizing any area of your life – including traveling with children of any age. Make the children a part of the trip by letting them help you plan. Your children will enjoy the trip more if they feel they have some say about the agenda. Get books from the library, or do an Internet search, on the area you plan to visit. Give them some options of what to do and actually use some of their suggestions. Who knows? You may enjoy their suggestions more than you think.

Here is a guide to vacationing with children, using the 5 steps:

1. Design your vision.

The first step to happy memories is good communication. Start scheduling family meetings to plan – the earlier the better. At the first meeting, ask each member of the family to describe what he or she would like to have in order to have a wildly successful vacation. It’s a great idea to put some structure into this discussion. Use a flip chart and have family members take turns recording answers. Subsequent meetings can be used to work out each of the next steps.

2. Eliminate your obstacles.

Mark Twain is credited with saying “Progress starts with the truth.” Certainly that applies in this situation. For example, some teens simply do not think it’s “cool” to travel with mom and dad. If you want your teens to enjoy their travel experience, make sure you understand what they like and dislike. With young children, keep in mind “less is more.” A swim in the hotel pool may be a much better choice than another two hours at the theme park.

3. Commit your time.

There could be several issues here. If your teens are working, they may resent having to miss work – or they may be delighted. In either case, find out their preferences, and see what you can do to accommodate them without jeopardizing your own needs. One of the issues likely to come up is the daily travel schedule itself. Young children need naps, teens may want to sleep late, while parents relish the idea of “getting an early start.” Compromise is probably the best solution here.

4. Select your tools

Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, one of the things my daddy taught me was “Half of any job is having the right tool.” While you may think it’s ridiculous to think about “tools” for a vacation, it is really essential. For example, if it is impossible to reach a compromise about the music on the car CD player, headphones for individual players could be a godsend!

Tools can also include systems for the way you handle situations. One of the major keys to success in organizing any activity is focusing on individual strengths – if one child is particularly adept at photography, make them the official family photographer, while another might be a great navigator.

5. Maintain your success

At the end of each day, take a few minutes for a “Check-In” session. What was the best thing that happened that day? Why? How can we make sure we have more like it? What didn’t work? Why? How can we eliminate the situation in the future? Make sure you use this process at the end of the vacation – make some notes and put them in your GO System File (LINK HERE to http://productiveenvironment.com/index.asp?name= GO%5FSEMINARS&new=true&leftnav=true&lid=66) for next year’s planning.

Here are some general tips you can use to ensure a great vacation:

• Choose age appropriate destinations. This doesn’t mean every trip has to involve a theme park or sports event; it simply means keep the trip’s educational value at a level they can comprehend and appreciate. If your children’s ages span a wide range, have at least one activity geared to each child. Picking a hotel with a pool can make a big difference!

• Lay the ground rules early. Before you even leave the house, make sure your children know what is and isn’t acceptable behavior on the road. As elementary as this may seem, if you don’t tell your children what you expect, how can they oblige?

• Let the children pack their own suitcases as much as possible. Make sure each child has a small carry-on bag for which they are responsible. Include things they can do on the road or in the air–a walkman and tapes, comic books, handheld video games, etc.

• Decide ahead of time about seating arrangements and make contingency plans in case requested seats are not available.

• Establish a meeting place at each stop. Nothing could be worse that having a child get lost in an unfamiliar environment. Whenever you visit a location, identify a spot where the family can meet if you happen to get separated, or carry cell phones or pagers.

• Carry current photos of your children. That way others can help you locate your lost child. If your child can tell time, make sure they take a watch!

• Pack a first aid kit. Face it. Kids will be kids. That means scraped knees, bug bites, and cuts and bruises. When traveling with children, always keep a first aid kit handy.

• Check for children travel specials. Pre-planning can save you lots of money. Many airlines, restaurants, and hotels offer discounts for children, whether it’s a “kids stay or eat free” deal or a “half-off children’s rate.” Let Internet-savvy children put their mouse to work for a happier vacation.

The most important thing to remember – flexibility. Traveling with children of any age is always a challenge. Spend more time enjoying the precious memories you will be creating and less time fretting over what could go wrong. Keep your sense of humor in full swing and happy traveling.

© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com

Unique Mother’s Day Gifts

Give Mom something special to pamper and relax her this mother’s day. These unique Mother’s Day Gifts make a fun and different surprise for mom on her special day.

10 Stress Free Tips to Pamper Mom This Mothers Day

Mothers Day is the day we set aside each year to show appreciation to our own mother and to the mothers in our lives that we love. Traditionally Mothers Day is the big “Flowers and Chocolate” day. While most moms do enjoy lovely flowers and chocolate, below are some ways that we can pamper mom with gifts and activities that she will remember for years to come.

1. Give Her a Massage

Treat mom to a relaxing massage. Besides just feeling good massage offers many benefits to your body such as reducing stress and anxiety, improves circulation, relieves general body tension and muscle stiffness, improves muscle tone, removes toxins from the muscles, improves flexibility in muscles and joints, improves the immune system, promotes healthy skin and much more. (Editor’s Note: Find out more about massage)

2. Spa Gift Basket

Mom will love a gift basket filled with an assortment of stress relieving goodies to pamper herself on Mothers Day or anytime she needs to relax. Some ideas of what you can include in her Spa Basket are scented bath gel, bath salts, body lotions, candles, eye pillow, bath pillow and bath brush.

3. Journal/Scrapbook

Moms love to record special events, especially those events that include special moments with their children. A journal is a great affordable gift where she can record her special thoughts and memories. You can take it a step further by giving her a scrapbook where she can also add pictures, fun borders, scrapbook embellishments and more to her written thoughts. This gift can last forever!

4. Candles

Scented Candles are a really affordable and practical gift that any mom will love. Candles provide a relaxing mood and can help her to de-stress by providing memories of special events. A baby scented candle can remind her of when she first held you. A peppermint scented candle can bring back memories of Christmas you spent together. Candles come in many shapes, sizes and scents so you are sure to find one to remind mom of a special time you both shared together. Once you find a scent mom likes add a little note to the gift card of what special time you spent together the scent you chose represents.

5. Facial

Moms love to be pampered and a facial is a wonderful relaxing way to do it. You can treat her to a spa for a facial by a licensed practitioner or you can give her a facial gift basket filled with skin care products according to her skin type for her to do at home at her leisure. (Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to check out our homemade spa recipes)

6. Clean House

Treat mom to a “Clean House Day” where you clean her house from top to bottom while she spends her day relaxing and enjoying herself doing whatever it is she likes to do.

7. Mommy and Me Day

Mommy and Me days are not just for mom and little ones anymore. You and mom can spend the day doing whatever is relaxing and enjoyable to you both. Having lunch or dinner together, watching a movie, going to the spa for massages and facials together, whatever she would like to do. The point is to give her the gift of knowing that you love her and enjoy spending quality time with her.

8. Send Her on a Date

Sometimes mom just needs a little time to get away from the everyday chores in life like cooking and cleaning the house. Send her on a date with dad to their favorite restaurant.

9. Yoga

Give the gift of good health to your mom this Mothers Day with a membership to a Yoga class. Yoga is great for relaxation and flexibility as well as being a fun way to get fit and stay fit.

10. Give Her a Hug and Tell Her That You Love Her

This tip is sometimes the most overlooked! We all love our moms but sometimes as we get older and get busy with our own lives we take mom for granted and forget the gift that is most important to her- US! Spend quality time with mom. Give her a big hug and tell her that you love and appreciate her. It’s a free gift and one that mom will love most off all.
Erica Brooks is Owner of Stress Away Family Shop which includes Stress Away Bath Shop and Stress Away Bridal Shop. She specializes in offering products, tips and resources to help you to combat the everyday stresses of life. You can reach her at stressawayfamilyshop.com and stressawaybathshop.com or via e-mail at service@stressawaybathshop.com

Understanding Toddler Temper Tantrums

Temper tantrums are a common occurrence in toddlers. Gain a better understanding of toddler temper tantrums.

Although toddler tantrums can be both embarrassing and traumatic, it may help you to understand that this is just another normal phase of your toddler’s development. Most tantrums are due to the fact that your toddler just doesn’t have the necessary vocabulary to express his newfound feelings.

He’s gone from being a bystander in life and just letting the world pass him by to fully diving in and wanting to explore and grab every little thing life has to offer. Along with this newfound thirst for life also come many emotions and the feeling of not being able to express these emotions.

That’s why when your toddler feels tired, hungry, or just bored and cranky he will result to having a tantrum as a way to change a situation he doesn’t like or has any control over. By the same token, your toddler may also have a tantrum when she doesn’t get her way.

When your toddler does have a tantrum, you certainly shouldn’t give in as tempting as it may be, if you’ve said no to something you should stick to no. If you give in now, you’re child will think next time he throws a tantrum he’ll get his own way too. This will create a cycle of repeat tantrums.

You should, however, be close at hand and ready to give your toddler a big hug once he has calmed down. Reassure him that you still love him and let him know how pleased you are that he has regained control. This will emphasize the fact that he has been able to control his emotions and will give him the confidence to know he is able to control himself at certain times.

And above all try not to get too frustrated or upset by your toddlers tantrum. The worst thing you can do is loose control yourself; this will only make the situation worst.

As your toddler goes through this normal phase of development, keep the future in sight, you’re teaching your toddler how to control and deal with his emotions and the tantrums will soon pass.

We Recommend:
Better Behavior Wheel
Child behavior management and positive parenting (without spanking) made easy with this upbeat, fun parenting tool. Effective parenting becomes easier with this unique child discipline tool. The atmosphere in your family will improve immediately as behavior modification is accomplished with fun and effectiveness.

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