Anyone else have a hard time going on vacation without kids?

[wrldpossibility]

I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way! I love to bring the kids on every vacation...if DH and I go somewhere to get away, I'm always thinking..."the kids would LOVE it here" etc. I DO love to get away, and we have three young and active kids (we NEED to get away ), but I still feel this way. In a few weeks, DH and I are going for 2 nights to a beautiful inn at the beach for our 10th anniversary. I thought in picking an expensive, fancy inn, I'd feel happy to leave the kids at home, but in looking through the website for the inn, I found all kinds of kid-friendly features like baskets of sand toys on the beds at check in, a milk and cookies hour, etc. Now my heart is aching to take them with us! I won't even mention it to DH, since he'll think I'm crazy, and I am! I'm looking forward to some time alone with DH, but how do I not feel like the kids are "missing out" or that we're missing out on family time? I think part of it is that DH works hard, and we don't have as many family weekends as I'd like.

I read about some parents going to Disney without their kids, and while I see the fun of it, it's definitely beyond my ability! But surely I could enjoy an anniversary weekend without them!

 

[Yensid_MD]

The DW and I try to get to WDW at least everyother year without the children, Just for ourselves, a long weekend of eating well, sleeping late and riding all the rides together without having to do the child swap. We love it!

 

[we're all mad here]

I'm OK leaving her at home for most vacations, but would not be able to leave her out of WDW. She loves anything Disney already.

 

[kaw1218]

For the past 3 years my DH and I kept 'planning' a trip for the two of us. The first year my mom and the kids went, the second time my mom, the kids, my aunt and uncle came, and this year will added a nephew too!! I made a promise that we WILL go just the two of us next year. In fact we are already telling the kids that we are doing this and they seem to be ok with it.(but I'm not, now figure THAT out!)

 

[Mom to Jordan]

We always have had a hard time leaving DS at home for week-ends away. He is an only child and very close to us. We DO go sometimes but always for only 2-3 nights and NEVER WDW. We decided long ago that is a family trip and we always go together. I know that one of these years DS will out grow wanting to go or will no longer be able to go and then we will change that but for now it works for us. DH and I are talking a few days next week for our 15th and I just checked again the web-site for the county innn where we are staying and saw something I know DS would love. He will not be going but we will think about him a lot ,and know that it is good for all of us for us to get away!!!!

Jordan's mom

 

[powellrj]

we have never been to WDW without the kids, but we do go away for short trips and I travel for job without them. My kids are older, so that makes it much easier than when they were younger.

 

[babiesX2]

I hate leaving my kids, but DH wants alone time for us so I do it because I want him to be happy. I haven't taken a vacay without any kids except our honeymoon to Vegas and a day at DL and we went to Europe for a few weeks. I missed my DD who was with her G'ma. Everything I did I wished she was there to do it, too.

 

[disneymom3]

What I do when I end up going to places I think my kids would have liked being--like a cruise we went on a few years ago--I think of it as an investigative trip. DH and I are checking out places and things that it would be fun to bring the kids to the NEXT time. Then I just figure I am looking ahead and making sure it is a fun place for them.

We travel fairly often without the kids and I must admit that while I do miss them, I always am very glad to have the alone time with DH.

 

[daisyduck123]

Our kids come on vacation with us. In a few years they WON't want to anymore, so we all go together while we can & enjoy it. I'd never think of going without them.

 

[mommyintn]

We try to go away a couple of times a year (maybe a weekend) and then 4 days (usually paid for by the company for doing so much business). It's always good to get away some and be a couple but I always feel the guilt of leaving the kids (I think that's pre-programmed in woman in general ). Two days is just enough to relax and miss the kids, enjoy!

 

[MeggerasMa]

Anyone else have a hard time going on vacation without kids?

Nope!

 

[westjones]

Our twins are 12 (almost 13) and we struggled with this for years. Many people told us that we deserved to have time alone and we should go on vacations just the two of us sometimes. We have many friends who do this as well, and they have wonderful trips.

Then I lost my Mom and Dad and well, it put a whole ner perspective on the time we have as a 'family. I realized (to me) the time I had at home as a kids with my parents was SO SHORT, and my memories with them are so important now. I love to tell my kids about the things I did with my parents when I was a kid.

After that, DH and I agreed that the kids come with us when we travel. There will be many years (we hope) in the future for trips alone. We only have our kids at home with us for a short time, and we are building memories for them that will span their lifetimes and will be stories for our grandchildren to hear for years to come.

So the short answer is.....we take our kids with us on all of our trips (at least for now---that can always change once we get into those teen years).

DJ

 

[laceemouse]

Our kids come on vacation with us. In a few years they WON't want to anymore, so we all go together while we can & enjoy it. I'd never think of going without them.

Agree. Our oldest is 15 and we have never been away without ours. We really don't have anyone we trust to leave them with anyway. We figure they are growing up so fast and in a few years they will be gone and we will have lots of time alone.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

I can't leave my kids at home. The only time I did was when DH planned an overnight trip for us. He made it a total surprise until the last minute. He knew I wouldn't agree to it if he asked me. I did have fun though.

 

[disneyfan6301]

We sometimes but rarely go anywhere without our son. Had an incident similar to an earlier post where we lost a 5 year old nephew in a car accident (DH's twin sister's son) and that reaffirmed that our family is too important to us for us to go without him. Anyway, DS does not spend the night with anyone, not even grandparents--just not his thing. I can't argue; it never was my thing either. As said earlier, the time will come when he won't want to go--although I don't think this will ever happen with a trip to WDW. Life is too short, and kids grow up way to fast. We figure we better enjoy him while we can.

 

[brytorlyn]

We took our kids (9 & 13 at the time) on our honeymoon! (2nd marriage, technically my kids but my husband thinks of them as his). I told my husband early in our relationship about a trip I had taken without my son when he was little and how I cried the whole time because I missed him and so when we decided on our honeymoon we wanted it to be a family bonding affair so we picked Disney.

I agree with the posters that the time you have with your kids is too short and you need to enjoy every minute of it! Our son is now 19 and our daughter 15 and we have another daughter who is 5. My son is a grown up (kinda) and in university and really can't come along now and it makes us all sad but it can't be helped and even the 15 year old won't be joining us this year. Two years ago when we went to Disney we took the girls and flew him out for the weekend so he didn't have to miss all the fun ( we were gone 3 weeks and since that one tearful trip I hadn't been away from him for more than a night or 2).

The time for vacations without the kids comes too soon...thank goodness for our youngest little princess who will be hanging around for a while to come.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I have to preface this by saying I haven't actually taken a vacation with our my kids yet. We even took DD with us for our 10 year wedding anniversary (she was 2 and it was to WDW, we had AP after all.) We did get one night away when BIL and SIL stayed in our room with DD and we stayed at AKL. We missed her, but it was good to have some time alone. We did think "this is great, we need to come back here someday with her."

Now we have 2 kids and it has been 6 years since we have been anywhere as a childless couple.

I am dreaming of trip to WDW, just DH and I. This March our AP will still be good. We will have gone as a family in Jan, and a family cruise in May.

I really want a adults only trip. I know I will miss them Heck they have been many times, they will be many times.

Have a great trip. If this Inn is a good place for kids, book a return trip someday. Enjoy your time just the 2 of you.

But you are not alone. I miss them, even when we go out to dinner and I see things they would like. I don't miss them when I see kids acting up, or know mine would be.

 

[TEXASPRINCESSES]

I am so with you..MY DD is 6 1/2 and we have only left her twice. I was really on edge today--thinking maybe I really needed a real break like a few days away--but if we do that we'll miss her soooo much. I have to say, growing up--my parents never-- in my 21 years on living at home--ever took a vacation without my brother and I.....