Getting Out with the Youngin's

Today our family started our first day of "staycation," meaning, we're on vacation, but staying in our own home for the week and enjoying the sights of our own hometown. Originally, we had planned on renting a cabin in the mountains, but ultimately we decided that our upcoming housing expenses (hello, gutters!) warranted something even more modest. This presents its own unique challenges, since we'll be traveling each day of the week. Our boys are aged 3 1/2 and 11 months, so their needs are a big consideration in our staycation plan. I'm happy to report that our first day went off with flying colors, so I'm going to share some of our kid survival tips with you while they're in my mind tonight. They will probably seem obvious to most of you snazzy readers but it has taken me a few years of mothering to put these thoughts in order! So here goes:

 1. Bring a good stroller. We have a collection of strollers in our home, but our favorite right now is a Sit-n-Stand that we snagged for $5 from a yard sale. We like this one because it allows both boys to ride, but my 3 1/2 year old, who loves to walk on his own, but lacks the stamina to walk all day, a chance to get up and down. (Note: I have read elsewhere about parents having strong opinions about the ages at which a child is "too old" to ride in a stroller. I have no thought on the matter except each family should do what works for them. My 3 1/2 year old would probably choose to walk if given the choice, but for the sake of the day we made the decision to bring the double. It was the right choice for us, today: he wasn't burnt out at the end of the day but was able to get up and bop around at least half of the time. Moral of the story: Do what works for your own family!)

2. Start early in the day. Our kids woke us up at 6 this morning. That's unusually early for them, but we decided to roll with it. We were out the door by 7:30 and rode on the train with the commuters. In my pre-kid days I would have laughed in your face if you had told me I'd be starting a "vacation" day at 6am. But since we were up, it made sense to just grin and go with it. Kids are fresh in the morning, so we have to learn to be morning people, too! One bonus of this is that we got to do a lot of sightseeing before the crowds were in!

3. Aim for off-peak travel times. Little did we know when we showed up in town this morning, that our destination was one of those towns where Monday is the "day off" for many of the smaller shops. I was really disappointed about missing out on some antique gazing until my husband gently pointed out that the upside was that we wouldn't be working against as many crowds--giving our honkin' stroller more space on the sidewalk, and our preschooler more room to bop around when he was out of the stroller without attracting the hairy eye from fellow visitors. Enough of the shops were open that we got a flavor for the place without missing out on anything--except the crowds!

4. Work in plenty of down time. It's work for kids to do something even as simple as riding in a stroller and using a reasonable tone of voice. This was especially evident when we stopped at a large park for about 30 minutes today. As soon as we gave him the go ahead, my 3 1/2 year old blazed a trail around the park in curvy lines and shouted gibberish like a baboon. He was really holidng it in while we were window shopping!  Likewise, the baby had been cooped up in the stroller seat and was happy to just stretch his legs and enjoy picking up pieces of dirt. Mostly, we kept the dirt out of his mouth.

5. Pack snacks! Snacks are a natural pick-me-up for anyone, but they are simply a necessity for little bodies. Nutri-grain bars and fresh fruit go a long way with little bodies, especially those that are out in the sun. Today we packed about twice as much as we thought we needed but brought only one little pack of fruit home. Yum!

6. Stop before burn out. We started to head back to the train station a little after 1 pm, but didn't get home until about 3pm. There was some fussing involved by the end. And the kids were cranky, too. But we were home early enough for everyone to nap. The evening agenda will be simple: dinner and a family movie. Why pack too much into one day and ruin a good thing?

So what about you? What are your survival tips for a day out with the little people in your life?

Linking up to: