Overprotective or just taking care of my own….

I've been told before that I am overprotective.  I've never taken that as an insult and it's usually been told to me by someone who has a very opposite parenting style then my own.  Since the day my first child was born and we brought her home front the hospital I've felt this overwhelming sense of responsibility.  Not just for my children's safety and overall well being, but also that they are my responsibility and not anyone else's (other then my husband's of course).  When I was ready to send them out to play in the neighborhood I waited until I knew they were old enough to not only know when to not run out into the street, but also how to act when playing in someone else's yard.  I'm not saying they were perfect angels every time I sent them outside, but they were at an age when they knew right from wrong and didn't require much correction.

Then there is of course the safety issues.  I don't wrap my kids in bubble wrap and not allow them to do anything that doesn't involve a soft surface, but I do adhere to basic common sense safety (which has also had others call me the over protective one).  You know the basics, a helmet "every time" you are on anything with wheels (you only have one brain and they bruise easy).  Staying in a car seat until you tall enough to not be in one, and then a booster until again your the correct size (both my kids started middle school in booster seats).  No sitting in the front seat of the car until your the correct age and weight (my son is small and the poor kid probably won't hit the proper weight until high school).  Then there are the really, really basic safety issues.  Don't touch a hot stove, don't go anywhere with a stranger, don't play in traffic, don't wear stripes and a print to school (okay, just kidding on the last one).  In my mind there are the basics that we can teach our kids and the just beyond basics (don't open the door when your home alone, always stay in groups, wear a helmet (that one gets mentioned a lot) that we can enforce on our kids, and that's pretty much how I live.  I don't see myself as overprotective, just as protective.

Few things make me cringe and want to throat punch people more then hearing the, "when I was a kid we used to ride in cars without a seatbelt with our heads out the windows while my Dad drank a beer.... and I'm fine" stories.  Of course your fine!  Your drunk driving Dad obviously never gotten into a car accident, because guaranteed if he did your story would of ended much different (or completely ended there).   Everyone can go around spouting these stories of the dangerous things they did as a kid that didn't hurt them and think that means it wasn't dangerous, when in reality they just got lucky!  Seatbelts were put in cars for a reason, helmets were made for a reason,  we don't give lollipops to babies for a reason.  The reason is that enough kids/babies/people were injured or killed from certain things and now we know how to protect ourselves (and our children) from hopefully having something terrible happen to them.  I will continue to protect my kids from what I can the best way I know how, but being smart and taking precautions when available.  I will not force them to live in a bubble and I will be sure they are out exploring the world and all it has to offer.  I cannot protect them from every bad thing that can happen to them, but I can make sure they are buckled properly, wearing helmets, and following basic life safety guidelines.

Never stop exploring.... why we travel as a family!

When I was a kid my family didn't travel at all, and when I say we didn't travel at all, I mean we went on zero vacations.  Not only did we go on zero vacations we never even stayed in a hotel once, not one night!  I knew when I grew up I wanted to travel.  I knew when I had kids I wanted them to see as much of the world as we could show them.  When my husband and I met we started going on trips almost immediately (our first was a trip to Florida 3 months after meeting).  We traveled as much as we could before having kids (we started having kids at 25 so we didn't get to travel as much as someone that waited longer to have kids).  We went to the west coast several times, traveled many destinations on the east coast, two cruises (got engaged on the first), and our favorite trip was Paris, France.  Once our first child was born we were determined to continue to travel.  We knew it would be more difficult with a baby, but we wanted her to see the world and get the travel bug from an early age.  Our son was born two years later and he too has been bitten by the travel bug.

Both are kids are great travelers and pretty much always have been.  It hasn't always been super easy, there were hours spent walking a toddler up and down the aisle on a plane while flying cross country, there were years spent with a child who got car sick and threw up on every road trip longer then 20 minutes, there was a cruise with two toddlers that got stuck in a country longer then it should of resulting in missed flights and super cranky kids.  But there were also huge smiles when my kids had their toes in the hot sand of the Caribbean in February.  There were smiles so big you'd think their faces would split when they saw their favorite Disney characters in a Disney parade.  There were days spent exploring new cities, new parks, new countries.  There were late nights spent in hotel pools swimming under the stars.  The list goes on and on.  Of course my kids don't remember the trips they took as babies and toddlers, but I do.  And we always took pictures and videos and they now get to watch themselves discover and explore all the places they saw.

As they have gotten older we let them help decide where we will go on our next adventures.  My daughter really wanted to go to Quebec, Canada this summer, a place we probably wouldn't of gone, but we all loved it.

I was recently listening to a radio interview with a singer who has children, he was saying how grateful he is to be able to bring his children to so many amazing places (having grown up poor himself).  Then he mentioned that travel opens up your mind, and that just hit the nail on the head for me.  You can definitely see a difference in people that have pretty much stayed in the same place their  entire lives, and those that have gotten out there and seen different places, eaten different foods, were able to see how other people lived, experienced different cultures.  Through travel you have such a broad understanding of the diversity of people and culture and I think it leaves you more open minded.

Of course the main reason to travel is it is fun!  Whether it's relaxing on a beach, spending the day in an overpriced theme park, visiting a national park, going to a different country, or trying something new that you could never do at home, it all comes down to fun for me!  

We are in the process of planning our summer travel now.  Not quite sure where it will take us, but I am sure that wherever it is (near or far), it will definitely be an adventure!  Where are you planning on traveling next?