On vacation you (and the kids) will be off schedule. You will likely be getting up early, staying out late, missing naps, eating at odd times, plus running from place to place to see the sites. That said, this is not the time to expect your kids to "behave" in a nice restaurant. Here are some suggestions to make mealtime easier when dealing with kids on vacation.
- Stick to family friendly cuisine. Looking at a menu full of foreign foods will cause you to spend money on something that will likely get thrown away and you just end up with a hungry child. Most places have a kids menu, if not scope out the regular menu before you decide if you are going to stay. In some cases, it may be in you best interest to go down.
- Look for noisy restaurants such as Joe's Crabshack. That way if you kids get a bit loud, nobody notices.
- If you have had a long day, consider having pizza delivered to the hotel. Most hotels have a table and chair area in the lobby that you are welcome to eat at. Some will also let you eat poolside while the kids swim.
- Eat breakfast in your room or at the hotel buffet. This simply means that is one less reason they have to wake up early. Let the kids sleep as late as possible. We have even been known to send one of us down to the hotel buffet to fill a plate full of food to bring back to to the room. The difficult part with that is the drinks, but if you packed juice boxes, that's taken care of.
- If you are going to plan a nice dinner out. Do something special for the kids that morning and don't plan anything after lunch that day. Come back to the hotel and allow them at least 3-4 hours of "down time" to rest or relax. This will help avoid the "I didn't get to do anything fun today" or "I'm tired" problems.
- Consider going out without the kids. Some businesses such as museums athletic clubs have one day classes for kids that you can sign them up for. Look for a class that is at least 3-4 hours which gives you enough time to have a romantic lunch together. The kids think its great that they got to do the class and you got time away. Just make sure you hit the drive through on you way back to pick them up so they get lunch too.
- Consider bringing an extra set of hands. This could done a few different ways.
- Find some friends who also want to vacation the same area as you. You can have different agendas, but agree to each take an evening with the kids. That way you don't "get tired" of each other, but yet you can leave you kids in familiar hands.
- Bring a babysitter. This of course is the more expensive route, but has its advantages. If you bring a sitter you need to figure in the expenses of their lodging, food etc., but you can ask them to be available from noon-8pm (as an example) to help with the kids. That way they know they can have the rest of the day to do their own thing, and you have a readily available person to take them to the pool etc so you can have some alone time with your spouse.
Bring a family member, such as grandma or grandpa. Quite often there is one spouse who likes to travel while the other does not. This is their chance to get away and not fret being alone. Typically you would cover part of their travel expenses, or at least some of their meals, but how much depends on your family dynamics. Make sure to let them know that you would like to schedule a night out without the kids so that they understand this from the start. Don't want them to come home with hard feelings because you "dumped" the kids on them.
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