Getting Sky Ready for Vacation
D and I developed a travel mantra for Sky before our last vacation to help prepare her for the trip and to reassure her that we would all be coming home. Since Sky has grown so much since that trip, we've modified our travel mantra to match. Instead of rote phrases, D and I have been having conversations at dinner for her to overhear. One of us will be nervous or scared about the trip and the other will be reassuring and affirming. The conversations go something like this:
A: D, will we be on an airplane for a really long time?
D: Yes, we'll be on an airplane for a long time. It will be hard to sit still but there will be books to read and movies to watch and when we get hungry, we'll have snacks.
A: We're going to Singapore, right? What's in Singapore?
D: First we're going to go stop in Guam and then in Seoul. We're not staying in Guam or Seoul but we have to change planes so we'll be there for a little bit. We'll get to Singapore at night time, so we'll go to bed. When we wake up we'll go to the zoo and the aquarium, and do lots of other fun things.
A: Are there lots of people in Singapore? I'm scared of there being lots of people.
D: It's okay to be scared but remember that Sky, Fire, and I will always be there with you. You'll never be alone.
A: So I can always get a hug from Sky if I'm scared?
D: Yes! I bet Sky would love to give you hugs if your scared.
We've been having those sorts of conversations since Christmas, as well as just talking to Sky in general about the trip. We've told her all the places that we'll be going and what we hope to do there. She's most excited about seeing animals in the zoo and to get to ride an elephant when we're in Malaysia. Again, we've had to make a point of telling her that we'll be coming home from vacation and that all of us will be coming back (she did ask about leaving Fire behind once!). I know that in the moment, her emotions will take over but I'm hopeful that this kind of preparation will help us be able to calm her down faster and help her better able to enjoy the vacation.
We haven't been doing anything in particular to prepare Fire for the vacation, although we've been preparing ourselves, mentally and physically, to be on vacation with him. Fire is very much a two-year-old boy and we are pretty anxious about how he'll handle being cooped up on planes for long periods of time. Thanks to our trips to Roi, he's used to flying and I've tried to book most of our trip for nap time or night time, but he's still a very active little boy. I'm imagining lots of walking up and down the aisle of the plane and hoping for lots of understanding from fellow passengers.
I included a post below with some lessons learned from out trip to Thailand that we'll be applying again. Do you have any travel tips to share? Any ideas for keeping kids calm and happy on an airplane or while away from home?
A: D, will we be on an airplane for a really long time?
D: Yes, we'll be on an airplane for a long time. It will be hard to sit still but there will be books to read and movies to watch and when we get hungry, we'll have snacks.
A: We're going to Singapore, right? What's in Singapore?
D: First we're going to go stop in Guam and then in Seoul. We're not staying in Guam or Seoul but we have to change planes so we'll be there for a little bit. We'll get to Singapore at night time, so we'll go to bed. When we wake up we'll go to the zoo and the aquarium, and do lots of other fun things.
A: Are there lots of people in Singapore? I'm scared of there being lots of people.
D: It's okay to be scared but remember that Sky, Fire, and I will always be there with you. You'll never be alone.
A: So I can always get a hug from Sky if I'm scared?
D: Yes! I bet Sky would love to give you hugs if your scared.
We've been having those sorts of conversations since Christmas, as well as just talking to Sky in general about the trip. We've told her all the places that we'll be going and what we hope to do there. She's most excited about seeing animals in the zoo and to get to ride an elephant when we're in Malaysia. Again, we've had to make a point of telling her that we'll be coming home from vacation and that all of us will be coming back (she did ask about leaving Fire behind once!). I know that in the moment, her emotions will take over but I'm hopeful that this kind of preparation will help us be able to calm her down faster and help her better able to enjoy the vacation.
We haven't been doing anything in particular to prepare Fire for the vacation, although we've been preparing ourselves, mentally and physically, to be on vacation with him. Fire is very much a two-year-old boy and we are pretty anxious about how he'll handle being cooped up on planes for long periods of time. Thanks to our trips to Roi, he's used to flying and I've tried to book most of our trip for nap time or night time, but he's still a very active little boy. I'm imagining lots of walking up and down the aisle of the plane and hoping for lots of understanding from fellow passengers.
I included a post below with some lessons learned from out trip to Thailand that we'll be applying again. Do you have any travel tips to share? Any ideas for keeping kids calm and happy on an airplane or while away from home?
Another travel post:
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