Family Vacations: The Three Golden Rules

The summer vacation season will have many parents and their children heading to their Nantucket vacation rentals and Disney World resorts in hopes of having an unforgettable vacation. When you're traveling with young children you need to be prepared for almost every possible scenario. You bring emergency meds along with your usual first-aid kid and your make sure you have something to keep your children entertained. Sometimes regardless of how much you prepare something manages to go wrong, and some parents may be surprised to learn that their vacation parent methods are what's causing the problem. Before you hit the road with your young ones for vacation, read this post to make sure you aren't make common vacation planning mistakes.

Bring Food

Some parents may argue that packing mountains of kid friendly snacks for vacation is just going to spoil kids, but if you're traveling with a lot of picky eaters those snacks will be a godsend when the first food tantrum erupts. On vacations sometimes it's just easier to hand your kids a PB&J sandwich instead of making them try exotic foods. You do want your children to experience new things, but you don't want to spend your vacation making food bargains with your four year old ("If you try the steamed asparagus mommy and daddy will let you have ice cream dessert and stay up late!"). When it comes to vacation meals be sure to pick your battles wisely and to always have some extra (and healthy) kid friendly meals ready to go

Don't Overstuff

We've all seen toddlers and young kids throwing a tantrum at an amusement park and have been baffled as to how a child could possibly be unhappy at such a fun place. Parents need to keep in mind that young kids are easily excitable and are prone to acting out when they're tired or overstimulated. You may think that packing your vacation itinerary with scheduled events will ensure that your children have the best vacation, but in reality it could just be exhausting them. Only plan a few set events for the day and leave room in your schedule for naps and breaks, and keep this final rule in mind…

Plan for Your Kids, Not for You

Some parents may think that planning a vacation for a kid friendly destination is all you need to do to plan a vacation for children, but successful family vacation planning goes beyond finding the closest and cheapest amusement park. Genuinely ask your children what they want to do on their vacation and then plan accordingly. If they want to build sand castles and splash in the ocean take them to beach, if they want to see grandma and grandpa plan to bring them along on your getaway. Children are far more capable of accurately communicating their wants and needs than we give them credit for, if you just ask your children what they want to do on their vacation you'll be nearly guaranteed to have a good holiday.