Away is Home

We were only gone seven days in Kissimmee.

And we had a great time in our All Star vacation rental, splashing in the pool, jumping in and out of the hot tub and playing Wii games.

But all the while, we didn’t realize what was creeping into our lives, oh, so quietly, one night at a time.

A habit I like to call Musical Beds. I define it as the inability to sleep in your assigned bed and to constantly try to switch bedrooms, no matter who is sleeping there.

It started very innocently during our trip to Anna Maria Island. We had a great house on a quiet street near the beach. Erysse woke up in the night and I scooped her up into our bed. Go back to sleepy, honey.

Camelot, the house in Palm Coast, was bigger. So much space and a great kitchen. The kids’ rooms were downstairs close to the pool doors. I told myself I’d just stay downstairs until the kids fell asleep that first night. By the third night Chris was giving me a hard time for letting them stay up late and sleeping with the “baby”.

I was supposed to hard line it in Kissimmee, but the recent flu shot had my resistances low, so when a tearful Erysse needed some hugs late on night, I complied. Even Chris, equally immobilized, moved over for Iden after he rolled off his bed upstairs and sleepwalked into the master bedroom.

And now we’re paying for it. We have two problems: getting back into the at home routine and breaking the we’re on the road, staying in a vacation rental non-routine.

It is a fine line between caring adult and pushover.

Or maybe not.

I am probably being a bit too indulgent – especially with my youngest. And it is hard for me to be the strict taskmaster when there is no grade associated with my performance.

Part of our travel is to give our children access to cultures and environments they might never otherwise experience – like riding horses on the beach, looking in the night sky for meteor showers, kayaking in wetlands and eating crab pizza.

But to feel comfortable with so much change in location we try to keep familiar routines. Like breakfast together, morning lessons, exercise and evening stories.

Staying in a real home and cooking together also helps.

And if it takes a little more discipline to help get everyone sorted into their own beds at the beginning of each trip, it should be well worth the energy.

Erysse, I hope you are reading this!

Kari Haugeto

Kari is a serial entrepreneur with an education addiction and a profound curiosity that, more often then not, fuels some pretty incredible adventures. Currently her attention is focused on social and digital media technology and she is developing a project with her family of five and a variety of sponsors to share their cross-country adventures online in an interactive, socially responsible, educational and authentic manner.

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