Last night I gave my infant son a suppository in the bathroom of a fancy Italian restaurant on the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Sometimes travel with kids is like that.
Kids in general are like that: always catching some sort of cold or getting some sort of (hopefully minor) injury. So why would it be any different when you are on the road?
Like the time we (proud first-time parents) took our brand new 5-month old daughter to Cabo San Lucas for a family reunion vacation, and she proceeded to spike a 103 degree fever in the middle of the night. In Mexico. Awesome.
Or the time she swallowed about 2 feet worth of dental floss in Scottsdale (don’t ask).
Or the time we were lost
in the dark
in Wales
and she got crazy carsick from all the winding roads (she definitely left her mark on that country . . . and our rental car).
How about another fun constipation story? I had to buy her suppositories in a pharmacy in Brussels. In French. And I don’t speak French.
I could probably go on and on with these stories. Like I said, kids are like that.
And in the moment, when you are panicking because such-and-such has happened and you are not quite sure what to do, you have to do exactly what you would do at home:
Stay calm.
Stay reassuring.
Ask for help (and be willing to pay whatever it takes for it).
Think slowly and clearly and help your child exactly how you would at home.
And you will find, once the smoke has cleared and the road dust has settled, a very funny thing. It never fails: that moment that was TOTALLY not funny at the time will become something you and your spouse or kids chuckle about someday. Sure, the sites and sounds and tastes of your travels will hopefully not be forgotten. But it is the little disasters and stressful moments you survive that become part of the family lore. Something that invokes those three beautiful words that make all your travels worth it: “Remember the time…?” And hopefully you do.
Wander on, WanderParents.
xo
jess
Oh, and for the record, the suppository in the bathroom of the fancy Italian restaurant on the San Antonio Riverwalk totally worked. And he has been a much happier traveler ever since!
Sometimes travel with kids is like that.
Kids in general are like that: always catching some sort of cold or getting some sort of (hopefully minor) injury. So why would it be any different when you are on the road?
Like the time we (proud first-time parents) took our brand new 5-month old daughter to Cabo San Lucas for a family reunion vacation, and she proceeded to spike a 103 degree fever in the middle of the night. In Mexico. Awesome.
Or the time she swallowed about 2 feet worth of dental floss in Scottsdale (don’t ask).
Or the time we were lost
in the dark
in Wales
and she got crazy carsick from all the winding roads (she definitely left her mark on that country . . . and our rental car).
How about another fun constipation story? I had to buy her suppositories in a pharmacy in Brussels. In French. And I don’t speak French.
I could probably go on and on with these stories. Like I said, kids are like that.
And in the moment, when you are panicking because such-and-such has happened and you are not quite sure what to do, you have to do exactly what you would do at home:
Stay calm.
Stay reassuring.
Ask for help (and be willing to pay whatever it takes for it).
Think slowly and clearly and help your child exactly how you would at home.
And you will find, once the smoke has cleared and the road dust has settled, a very funny thing. It never fails: that moment that was TOTALLY not funny at the time will become something you and your spouse or kids chuckle about someday. Sure, the sites and sounds and tastes of your travels will hopefully not be forgotten. But it is the little disasters and stressful moments you survive that become part of the family lore. Something that invokes those three beautiful words that make all your travels worth it: “Remember the time…?” And hopefully you do.
Wander on, WanderParents.
xo
jess
Oh, and for the record, the suppository in the bathroom of the fancy Italian restaurant on the San Antonio Riverwalk totally worked. And he has been a much happier traveler ever since!
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