And so you should travel with them
Travelling with toddlers is not usually recommended. They’re as crazy and loud as they always are and putting them in a flying metal tube is torturous for you and everyone else travelling alongside you. When you reach your destination, there is no downtime. It’s the exact same stuff you do at home, but in a different location, without all the comforts of your stuff, and with the added bonus of sitting in a dark room every night from 7 p.m. instead of hitting the town.
However, if you can accept that you won’t be relaxing like you did on the holidays of your youth, you will find that a toddler can make your holiday magical.
We took our son to Fiji when he was two. Yes, he needed naps in the middle of the day, yes he was out of sorts at bedtime, yes he made meals hectic, BUT …
Every night they had a fire-lighting ceremony at the resort. Men dressed in traditional costumes would walk around lighting torches to the beat of tribal drums. It was charming and all the guests enjoyed it, but NO ONE loved it as much as my son. He squealed and jumped up and down like he was seeing flying dinosaurs or riding a fire engine down a rainbow. His pure and unadulterated joy at seeing the fire ceremony every night was the best part of our trip by far.
I looked at all the faces of older kids and adults who sat quietly and watched the show and felt so sad that we’d all lost the spark of wonder we’d had as toddlers. We don’t whoop and jump with happiness because we’ve become self-conscious and indifferent to life’s marvels.
We live a life of restraint and responsibility, but then we have a child and for this very brief time we allow ourselves to share their delight. We let ourselves whoop and jump, and fling our hands to the sky, because how can we not? When a two year old is vibrating with joy, how can we ignore it? We simply have to join their joy train and ride it with them.
Sure, holidays won’t involve lazing on the beach all day and drinking all night, but you will find the twinkle in things you wouldn’t have noticed without your little spark beside you. It’s even worth a plane trip. Trust me.