Top Ten Lessons Learned on Vacation

It's Top Ten Tuesday again. I've decided to do a vacation-inspired version of Top Ten Lessons Learned. I was pondering the idea on the ride home from the beach and decided to definitely do it after reading this post on Fricknits. Julie is forever inspiring me! Sophanne at BeckyKnitsToo suggested "Top Ten Ways To Entertain Little Man on a Long Car Ride." See Number 2 to see why I didn't end up doing that topic. So here we go, Top Ten Lessons Learned on Vacation...

Grandmother's Friends

10. If you work on your blog ideas in the car, your husband will want to help.
Honey, hope you like how I incorporated your ideas.

Little Man with my honey, Brian

9. Part A. Children do all kinds of weird things in their sleep.

We shared a room with Little Man for the week and it is amazing the things he does in his sleep. One night he sat straight up in bed without waking up. Little Man also does all kind of crazy yoga-like leg stretches when he is starting to wake up.

My two year-old neice

9. Part B. Just because you and your husband slept in the same room does not mean you got the same night's sleep.

Somehow my husband slept through all of Little Man's crazy night-time antics. He didn't even wake up when he cried out in his sleep or stood up crying.

My two year-old nephew

9. Part C. If you're staying in a hotel room with a one year-old, you'll be in bed by 8:ooPM. He'll still be awake.

Little Man clinging to me as he checks out all his crazy relatives on the first day of the beach trip.

8. What you say, your child will repeat.

Apparently, I say "uh huh" a lot and Brian says "oomph." Guess what Little Man said over and over the whole week we were on vacation?

My oldest nephew (almost 4)

7. Swim diapers are only good for holding sand.
Need I be gross enough to explain? Luckily, this year was an improvement over last year. This year it was just wet (and warm).

Little Man with his first shell

6. Just because his cousins are eating it, does not mean your child will eat it. However, if it's the last one and you really want it, he will decide to eat it.

As many of you know, Little Man is a very picky eater. He did not try any new foods even though his cool, older cousins were all eating them (e.g., Spaghetti-Os, ravioli, lima beans). He did however decide to try my McDonald's hashbrown on the way home and preceded to eat the whole thing. I was excited he tried it, but sad to lose my favorite part of my breakfast.

Our attempt to get a picture of all four children in the matching suits their Mooma bought them.

5. Part A. It's hard to knit on the beach.

Think wind, sand and splintery wood. Seems kind of stupid, but I still tried it.

Starting to gather for the family reunion photo in our matching hats.

5. Part B. Check your gauge before leaving on vacation.

I wanted to make the Placket-Neck Pullover from LMKG for Little Man out of Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton. I happily took my pattern, printed corrections (link to pdf), yarn and needles on vacation. I decided to check gauge. It was way off. I did not have my Stitch N' Bitch Nation to walk me through the conversion process. No Placket-Neck Pullover knitting for me. This will be a project for a future time and future blog.

Brian and Little Man in the ocean

4. You drink a lot less on vacation when you have a small child.

We used to go through cases of beer during our week at the beach. The former downing of beer has slowed to a trickle. It's hard to drink a beer while chasing a small child. It's hard to drink a beer when trying to stop a four year-old from crushing your child in a bear hug while in a baby pool. It's hard to drink a beer while fighting off loads of seaweed as you try to make sure your child isn't scared of the ocean. However, it is very nice to drink a beer at the end of the night when all little ones are in bed.

Little Man being silly in his new hat

3. No matter how many toys you pack, they will not be as exciting as non-toys.

Little Man spent a lot of time playing with an empty milk jug, a can coolie, and his monitor (he discovered that it lights up).


Little Man, me, my twin sister and her children

2. As anti-intuitive as it seems, when driving on a long car ride with a small child, it is often best to ignore him to keep him happy.

Little Man is so much happier (quieter) in the car when he is ignored. I packed all kinds of toys and books, but every time I gave him one he would play for a few minutes then throw it down and fuss. The more I tried to make him happy, the fussier he got. If, however, I just ignored him, he happily entertained himself for hours. He did fun things like stare out the window and play with his toes. The upside to this theory, I discovered Little Man travels better when I knit. Wonderful, huh?

Little Man playing with a piece of plastic in the car. This fascinated him for at least 45 minutes.

1. "Family Vacation" is an oxymoron.

There is nothing relaxing about a vacation with young children. It's exhausting, but it still lots of fun and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Little Man in the sand

Hope this installment of Top Ten Tuesday has been as fun and informative as my vacation. Please feel free to leave comments with your own vacation lessons or suggestions/requests for future Top Ten Tuesday topics.