An acquaintance came up to me at a destination wedding, holding a baby on her hip, she smiled at me and sighed as she looked at her child. She and I had both come to the wedding with our kids in tow (the best way to do a wedding! I write this with sarcasm). This young mom told me that I had inspired her to be brave and travel with her kids. I was kind of taken off guard as to how she would know about my travel stories. Having just had another child, I was in a bit of a mom blur, so I had no recall as to what she was talking about. Then she went on to tell me, "I remember seeing your post online about how you were breast feeding your baby in New York City. You were on top of an open air double decker bus, in the pouring rain, nursing your daughter under a rain poncho! You made me want to be confident with my kids and include them in my adventures. I thought, if she can do it, I can do it!"
I was thankful that this encouraging mother reminded me of that story of myself breastfeeding in the rain, because I had completely forgotten about it and it made me laugh out loud remembering the absurdity of it all. I look back at those travel memories with my baby and think, I'm glad I took my baby to New York City with me (twice in her first year). We conquered it. Now I have fun stories to recall that make me laugh. I guess of course my only recall is if I have someone that will come up to me and remind me of those stories. Hah!
Well this young mom's words to me about my travels with kids, along with other countless mothers' words to me, ("I'm so nervous, what do I need to know before I get on a plane with my baby?" or "How do you do it? I want to travel with my kids but it is so hard and it stresses me out!") have encouraged me to write these next blog posts about traveling with kids. I feel there is a strong need out there for moms to have a fellow mommy friend help them with their travel plans and pep talk them all the way to the gate or boarding dock. I needed that myself when I was a new mom and I remember searching for all the mommy travelers I could find on the world wide web to give me some sage advice.
So with that said, I will now do my best to add what I have learned and what I am STILL learning in my travels with my kids, to the beautiful world wide web of information. So Here it is, from a Cosmopolitan Housewife's Travel Journal, I will now commit to bring you a series of Tips On Travel With Kids (The Kid Diaries). These blog posts are for all you mommies out there that are searching for a friend to help you get your suitcases out the door! So join me here! We can do this!!
The next few Kid Travel Diary entries will be titled:
Diary 2- My Top Ten Items To Bring On The Plane For Babies and Toddlers
Diary 3- How To Travel With Your Kids and Enjoy It
The next few Kid Travel Diary entries will be titled:
Diary 2- My Top Ten Items To Bring On The Plane For Babies and Toddlers
Diary 3- How To Travel With Your Kids and Enjoy It
As I write these Kid Travel Diaries, I would love to hear your questions, your stories and any advice that you have that worked for you too! Let's all be there for one another.
*Obviously, I can only speak from my personal experiences and what worked for me. You will have to tweak the way you travel as a mom to work for you and your kids. Maybe you'll be able to take something new with you from my posts to add to your travel list. Maybe you'll just be able to smile and relate like you are listening to a fellow mommy friend share her stories over coffee. Maybe you will read what I share and think "Hell no! I'm not ever traveling with my kids!" And that's totally okay.
Every time I set foot on a new adventure with my kids, I gain new insight. Please don't think that I consider myself the guru of mommy travels. I'm still on the motherhood journey of growing myself and learning along side the best of you. Let's share it together! So stay tuned as I release my Tips for Travel with Kids!
