Take A Trip Without The Kids

 I’m a huge fan of family vacations.  I really believe that taking at least one family vacation a year is a necessity.  Even if money is tight taking a small trip to do fun things with the kids is worth it.

While family vacations are great, a trip without the kids is equally important.  After some good encouragement/pushing from some good friends, the hubby and I finally took a trip by ourselves for the first time in many years.

With no kids!

This is how we felt about it:

Our “jobs” as parents is pretty consuming.  From the moment I get up until the end of the day I’m constantly responsible for my two little ones.  Feeding, playing, bathing, discipline, encouraging.  You  know the drill.

To think that I would be away from those responsibilities for three days was both exciting and a little scary.

For parents like me it’s hard to just get away.  It’s not that easy.

But all the planning was worth it!  The hubby and I left the kids with their grandparents & had a great time on our trip {I’ll share pictures later on}

So if there’s other parents out there who (like us) who need some encouragement to get away on your own, this post is for you!

Top 8 Reasons to Take A Trip Without The Kids

Your Marriage Is Being Watched

While the kids grow up, most of what they learn about marriage will come from watching YOURS.

{GULP}  That’s a pretty humbling thought, isn’t it?

I want my kids to know how a healthy marriage is supposed to work.  If we don’t get away to spend time with each other and invest in our marriage we will be cheating our kids.  Displaying a healthy marriage is part of parenting.  Putting your spouse before the children is healthy and getting away on a trip together is a great way to display this fact.

Enjoy Some Freedom!

Having freedom with a lot less responsibility was one of the things we enjoyed most about our trip.  We had no schedule.  No naps to rush home for.  No diaper changes.  We got to sleep in & went about our day doing whatever we wanted.  Freedom is a wonderful thing & it was so refreshing for the both of us!

Your Kids Need Time Away From You

I know that headline may have stung a little bit.  But it’s true.  Your children need to know that they can be away from Mom and Dad and know they’ll be okay.  I also needed a reminder that my children will survive without me.

Gives You A Chance To Miss Your Kids

This really applies to me as a stay-at-home-mom.  I’m always around my kids so I don’t often get the satisfaction of reunion with them.  I have to admit I sometimes get jealous of my hubby and working moms because they get to have fun reunions with kids in a way that I never do.  They get to go off, be productive and then come home to a swarm of kids and hugs and kisses.

After returning from our trip I absolutely savored the reunion with my kids.  It was wonderful!

Your Nest Will Be Empty Someday

Before the kids came along, it was just the hubby and me.  When the kids grow up and move out, it will again be just the hubby and me.  We want to build into our relationship now so that when our nest becomes empty it will be an exciting time.  We want our friendship to be strong.  Couples that focus too much on the children tend to drift apart.  By the time the kids leave, the couple doesn’t know how to interact with each other.  I don’t want that to be us.

Remember The Cosby Show?  Cliff is always excitedly looking forward to the time when all the kids move out.  He clearly loves his wife and was looking forward to that time.  I want to be like Cliff.

Enjoy Interests & Hobbies Together

One thing that brought the hubby and me together when we dated was a general interest in cars.  We both can look at an Aston Martin and appreciate the beauty of its design.  We both marvel at the cinematography of the show Top Gear.  Getting away gives us time to enjoy these interests together.

My hubby is an avid cyclist.  We spent some time at a bike shop which is one of his favorite places to go.  Is it my fav place to go?  Nope.  But I love him so I invest a little of my time so that we can enjoy his hobbies together.

It’s also a two-way street.  The next day I spent some time shopping for deals.  My hubby happily picked up a book and read while I shopped.  We both had the chance to invest in the other’s hobbies.  When we both are preferring the other, our marriage is fun & not work.

It’s Good For You

Just like eating your vegetables is good for your body, getting time away as a couple is good for you.  People who take vacations and relax will come back more productive.  In my case since our getaway I’ve been on a blogging frenzy.  A fresh break has given me tons of ideas for new posts.  Letting my mind refresh has ended up giving me a ton of inspiration.

Uninterrupted Conversation

Need I say more?  With two little ones it’s seemingly impossible to finish a full sentence.  Or a full thought.  It was so wonderful to have long conversations again.  While I’m talking about conversations, make sure you don’t end up talking about the kids the whole time.  We both had to work on this a little at the beginning of our trip, but by the second day we were talking like we did when we were dating!

We took a three day trip to St. Louis.  Here’s some of the pictures we took!

Did I convince you yet?  Where would be your perfect destination for a kid-free trip?  Leave a comment below and tell me where you’d like to go!

This post linked to Give Me The Goods Monday and Ladies Only Blog Share