Annie Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 We've been on "vacation" for a week now, and I'm about to go insane. We're visiting family, and with all of the excitement and activity, my children's schedules get so incredibly messed up. It's 10:30 local time (11:30 at home), and my four year old is just now falling asleep. We're all sharing one bedroom, so I can't just send him to bed and leave him to his own devices because he would wake the baby (who fell asleep three hours ago...), so I've been held captive in a dark room for two hours while he tosses and turns and asks for drinks. He gets an incredible amount of exercise. I think he sat for a total of about 30 minutes today, but he jut can't calm down to sleep when things are different. So now I have zero down time because I need to go to sleep because of course the baby will be up bright and early. Sigh. It's like a never ending day that just won't stop. Some vacation. Forget the fact that it will take me three weeks of pain to get him back on track once we get home. /rant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 I REFUSE to call visiting family a vacation. If there is no beach, it isn't a vacation!! Hugs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 We've been on "vacation" for a week now, and I'm about to go insane. We're visiting family, and with all of the excitement and activity, my children's schedules get so incredibly messed up. It's 10:30 local time (11:30 at home), and my four year old is just now falling asleep. We're all sharing one bedroom, so I can't just send him to bed and leave him to his own devices because he would wake the baby (who fell asleep three hours ago...), so I've been held captive in a dark room for two hours while he tosses and turns and asks for drinks. He gets an incredible amount of exercise. I think he sat for a total of about 30 minutes today, but he jut can't calm down to sleep when things are different. So now I have zero down time because I need to go to sleep because of course the baby will be up bright and early. Sigh. It's like a never ending day that just won't stop. Some vacation. Forget the fact that it will take me three weeks of pain to get him back on track once we get home. /rant I absolutely feel your pain. We have been on vacation for the last two and a half weeks. We did really well keeping a reasonable schedule for my dd4 in Hawaii, and a few days in California...but we are now visiting my family and it has.all.gone.WRONG! Between all of Grandma' 'ideas', absolute passive aggressive issues, and all of the debacles involving scheduling of food? I am in horror. My child thrives on structure and the absolute chaos has left her a whiny, fit-throwing, not-listening, disaster:( We are sleeping in my parents bedroom in a tiny house with one bathroom...my dd is horribly frightened of dogs and there are two very wild, very loud and boisterous dogs in the house...and tonight my mom announced her grand plan to have all six cousins (all under the age of 8) come over for a sleepover this weekend with their parents. If that happens we are moving to a hotel despite the fact that my mom would probably not talk to me for six months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Well, misery loves company. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I just don't get how the child can literally *run* all day long and still take two hours to fall asleep. Why can't I have the kind of kids that fall asleep in the car after a long day or laying on the couch watching s movie, and you just carry them into bed? Seriously, it's like the fact that he has to go to sleep comes as a complete surprise to him every night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkeepswimming Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Oh how I remember those days. I feel your pain. Family vacations finally feel like vacations again, though, now that my youngest is 9 years old!! :hurray: DH always had nice vacations. :glare: Probably the biggest bone of contention in our entire marriage. He could not understand why I didn't like to travel. (just packing for 4 kids was enough to want to cancel the trip and we weren't even out the front door yet!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Warm bath saved my life with one of mine on many occasion. If you have epsom salt, even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 If dd got too tired then she got so wired that she could't sleep. Sometimes a warm bath can help - esp. with epsom salts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camelfeet Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Any chance you can put him to sleep in another room then move him over to your room after he's asleep? Then you don't have to lie down with him and he's also not disturbing the baby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Move to a hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Well, misery loves company. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I just don't get how the child can literally *run* all day long and still take two hours to fall asleep. t. He's probably overtired and can't wind down. Can you try putting him to bed earlier, after a bath, like the others suggested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 When mine were little we had multiple trips for family emergencies on DH's side, and I always spent 90% of the time corralling my kids. I rarely got to talk to anyone, and I was so sleep-deprived because the kids got completely off on their sleep. It does get better though. Now I can hold an extended conversation with people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Yep, we no longer stay with family. There are too many of us, and everyone having a bit of space helps a lot. We've found that getting them ready for bed (pjs, teeth, potty/diapers) and then putting them in the car worked really well for under fives, because they fall asleep in the car after saying goodbye to grandparents. For the older kids, when we were away last week, we turned out all the lights and put on some quiet music, and it was the easiest time we've had yet with getting everyone to sleep. But even with good sleepers, ugh, the baby thought 6:30 am was a great time to wake up. Thankfully, he's old enough now that DH can take him downstairs after I've nursed him, but so don't really fall back asleep very easily. Vacations are not really vacations when you have multiple small children! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 I agree with the poster who says that visiting family is not vacation, maybe for the kids but not the parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinaPagnato Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 It's not a vacation even WITH a beach if you've got little ones to watch every. single. moment. so they don't drown/eat sand/walk on other people's blankets. Slathering sunscreen on squirmy little bodies is not fun. Finally when you settle down to take a breath, they need to poop/nap/eat. Yup...not a vacation anywhere when you have littles. BUT, littles grow up, sooner than you realize. One day you'll find yourself actually relaxing on a vacation somewhere, and you'll see some weary mom and dad struggling with their little ones. You'll think to yourself, "Aw, what a sweet time." Unless you're me, and then you'll think, "Thank God for teenagers!" :lol: :lol: :lol: To the OP: Hang in there! Believe it or not, you're building sweet memories for your family, even if you're taking the hit right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maela Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 For me, it's not a vacation unless it's just the four of us. Especially being an introvert. And with my kids being the ones that need structure because they can't just fall asleep anywhere. Also, we don't eat as healthy, which affects their behavior.... It can still be fun, but it's definitely harder than just being home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbi in Texas Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 How many more days of this "vacation" are left? I can't imagine how miserable you must be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 I've always wondered why the word vacation conjurers up warm, fuzzy feelings for so many people. I didn't even like vacations when I was little. I hated being away from my own stuff and my bed. Vacations with my young children were stressful because we were away from our structure and routine. The one vacation DH and I took without kids was kind of fun but I spent the whole time missing them. We take a year trip to visit my MIL but we actually don't use the word vacation. We just call it a family trip. We just sit around her very small house talking, eating, and watching tv. I've never seen so much tv in my life! When the kids were younger, my MIL had toys for them to play with but the tv was always on. It's been years since we took an actual vacation. Last Christmas we kicked around the idea of a family vacation but no one wanted to go to the same place, so we scrapped that idea. I figure I'll have true vacations when DH retires and the kids are grown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Well, misery loves company. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I just don't get how the child can literally *run* all day long and still take two hours to fall asleep. Why can't I have the kind of kids that fall asleep in the car after a long day or laying on the couch watching s movie, and you just carry them into bed? Seriously, it's like the fact that he has to go to sleep comes as a complete surprise to him every night. And why can't I have kids that sleep late after being up late at night? Mine just get up EARLIER and act crabby all day. And I am the grumpy bad-guy aunt that puts her kids to bed when the cousins are still running wild at night. For me, it's not a vacation unless it's just the four of us. Especially being an introvert. And with my kids being the ones that need structure because they can't just fall asleep anywhere. Also, we don't eat as healthy, which affects their behavior.... It can still be fun, but it's definitely harder than just being home. My dh and I are both extreme introverts. 3 of my 4 are extroverts. This is why we don't travel much. The idea of spending 8 hours or more in a car with three chatty children makes me want to run screaming. I've always wondered why the word vacation conjurers up warm, fuzzy feelings for so many people. I didn't even like vacations when I was little. I hated being away from my own stuff and my bed. Vacations with my young children were stressful because we were away from our structure and routine. The one vacation DH and I took without kids was kind of fun but I spent the whole time missing them. We take a year trip to visit my MIL but we actually don't use the word vacation. We just call it a family trip. We just sit around her very small house talking, eating, and watching tv. I've never seen so much tv in my life! When the kids were younger, my MIL had toys for them to play with but the tv was always on. It's been years since we took an actual vacation. Last Christmas we kicked around the idea of a family vacation but no one wanted to go to the same place, so we scrapped that idea. I figure I'll have true vacations when DH retires and the kids are grown. My dad always has the TV on. Drives me bonkers. Visiting family is not vacation. Even when your kids are older. The vacations that I like are when my kids are with relatives and my dh and I travel for his work. He goes off to do work stuff, I take showers without interruptions, workout in the hotel gym, sketch, and read, and we go out to dinner. I don't have to have entertainment or activities in the evening either. Quietly watching tv in the hotel is fine with me. Re-reading that, I sound like the most boring person on the planet, if that;s my idea of a good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 I always felt like I needed a vacation after vacation when my kids were younger. We're leaving on a vacation tomorrow and this may be one of those vacations too (3 national parks and then a kids based camp). At least it's better now for some vacations! ETA - I don't particularly enjoy rooming with family either! Although, my parents have a winter home in AZ that is well set up for company and we usually have our own vehicle and can do some of our own sight seeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Thank you to everyone for commiserating with me. I'm feeling better this morning. The baby woke up bright and early at 6:30. :-) We're visiting my family, and I really am glad be here. We've been having a lot of fun during the days, it's just the nights that are getting too me. I've been trying to keep his routine as close to normal as possible (bath, teeth, story, song), but it seems like pretty much a lost cause. We're here until next Wednesday. Then the fun of adjusting back starts. ;-) Faifarmhand - If you're boring, so am I. That sounds like a perfect vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Faifarmhand - If you're boring, so am I. That sounds like a perfect vacation. I get this ridiculous thrill coming back from the hotel gym to see the beds made, the bathroom sparkly, and fresh towels laid out. And I didn't have to do any of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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