HOw many of you leave your kids home?

[Dedivah]

I think its fine if you want to take a cruise just you and DH. If I could get DH to vacation without our DD6 I sure would jump at it. DD is his first and only child and he trusts no one with her.:rolleyes: I have an 18 year old son.

[dec2007w3boys]

We have taken ours everytime except for two long weekends in Vegas. We usually go on two vacations a year. After three cruises, dh and I decided this year was for us. On our 15th anniversary, we will be on the 8 day new southern cruise - no kids. I am very excited, yet a little nervous. My mom will be doing the school, homework, pack lunch, laundry etc.... Looking forward to 9 days with hubby! Boys are looking forward to another cruise next year!

[rrraydon]

We do some with the kids and some without. Now that 3 of my children are older with their own kids, they don't go with us.

 

We leave in 7 days for the Fantasy and my 12 yr old will be with us.

 

In Feb, it's our anniversary so it will be just my husband and I. We like our own time together too and we've tried to teach our children to respect that. They don't need to be with us 24/7, sometimes we need a vacation from them..love 'em dearly...but sometimes it's just "our time". And, sometimes they need a vacation from us! lol...I think all couples need some alone time in order to keep the relationship healthy...JMO.

[Tbay-eh]

It's nice to hear so many positive answers and very little criticism. I am also one who truly believes that it is healthy for a family for the parents to have some alone time. I love my children dearly but they know that it is not all about them, we did family vacations for years but every once in awhile it was just hubby and me. The kids appreciated when they were included and understood when they weren't.

[mstravel]

I gave up cruising after having our daughter, almost 6 years ago. Because we only like 7 day cruises, I couldn't see being away from her that long. However, we still take 3-4 day vacations each year, while she stay with the grandparents, in another state. We also do mini trips with her each year. This year however, she is off to Kindergarten and starting a new chapter in her little life, so I decided it was time to get back to our 7 days cruises. With bonus money, I booked a 7 day cruise out of San Juan, booked airfare...then surpised my dh with the news that we have an anniversary cruise coming up that was totally paid in full...needless to say he was suprised that A) I was actaully leaving dd for 7 days and B) Paid In Full. That makes me wife of the year :-)! We sail next month!

[TEXAZJEWL]

My parents always babysit for us every fall, so we can have an "adult" vacation. I love it and don't feel guilty at all !!!

 

It's MUCH needed for us... my son is autistic. We always take a family vacation in the summertime, but because of my son's autism, it's usually limited in where we can go, what we can do... and it always centers around him & his interests.

 

So, my parents see how little free time we get for "us" , and offer to do this for us when he's back in school. In fact, that's what we've come to ask for our "early" Christmas present every year now! (Not the CRUISE... but their babysitting services for a week! lol) They come stay at our house with him, to keep him in his routine... and we don't have to worry about the house or boarding the dogs! Works out great for us.

 

I would think that ANY couple with children could benefit from a vacation on their own now and then, because our lives do tend to center around our children (as it should be). But, nothing wrong with some "alone" time... keeps the relationship stronger & happier, which benefits the kids... in my opinion!

[Mami]

DH and I will be going on our first cruise in October for our 15th anniversary and leaving our girls at home. We plan vacations and stuff with our girls regularly so they don't mind if we leave them home at times. We have a huge extended family that we plan a big vacation with about every other year and then my in-laws also take their grandchildren on vacations without the parents (most recently they took my girls on an 8 night cruise over spring break) so the girls get lots of time with us and with everyone else that they never feel slighted when we plan something without them. I do misss them when they don't go but DH and I appreciate taking the time to just enjoy being with each other.

[sassy_mrsjay]

We left the kids 5 and 13 with MIL this past April while we did a three day cruise. This was the first time the kids have stayed overnight without us and they enjoyed being away from us.

[tracyanns]

We are try to do 2 a year, one with the kids, and one without.

 

This is what we do also, 4 vacations a year...2 long ones, usually a cruise or an all inclusive...1 with the kids, 1 without...and the rest are usually 4 day weekends with the kids that they pick...

 

But we also go out every other Saturday night without them too...we like to balance out family and couple time...you need both...

[bankerbabe]

When my son was about 7 or 8 I was feeling guilty for leaving on a vacation without him and his sister. He turned and said: "Mom, you and dad need time alone. It's good for your relationship."

 

He's an old soul.

[Warm Breezes]

Our kids prefer cruising over land based vacations for our family vacations. So we have been booking our week + family vacations on a cruise. DH and I have a love for traveling out west, so we book smaller 3-5 day vacations with just the 2 of us there. I don't see us doing an us only cruise until after the kids have grown up and moved out. I can wait until then.

[jpg1747]

Until they let me put a litter box on the balcony I'll continue to cruise without my "kids".

[AddictedtoFL]

We did San Juan earlier this year and left the 2 kids (5 and 6 yrs old) home with the grand parents, we been doing 1 week Disney and 1 week Cruise every year for the last 4 years, so we were a little guilty about leaving them for a week, even though we already planned 2 weeks Land and Sea with Disney in 2 mths after we came back.

I must say it was difficult in the beginning and we would phone them everyday and talked to them as long as we could, by the third days the kids got feed up with talking to us on the phone. :) It would have not be a good idea taking them to a ports intensive cruise. 7 ports in 7 nights were very tiring. The kids enjoy their time so much with the grand parents that when we came back, they asked if they can do a sleep over at the grandparents once in a while.

We enjoy our first time alone in 6 years very much, and felt a lot more comfortable leaving the kids behind if we every want to do it again.

[01Sweetpea]

Tomorrow we set sail on our FIRST cruise without the kids! :) The kids are teens and are going to be away at camp for a week so it was the perfect opportunity to get away just the two of us.

 

Next year our oldest will be heading off to college, so next summer will be probably our last "family" vacation :(, unless he decides he still wants an all-expense vacation courtesy of mom & dad. :D

[Alliezona09]

I've taken 7 cruises so far and have not taken my kids on one~ Cruising is *my* time~

[babyher]

When my son was about 7 or 8 I was feeling guilty for leaving on a vacation without him and his sister. He turned and said: "Mom, you and dad need time alone. It's good for your relationship."

 

He's an old soul.

 

 

*LOL*

 

 

When DW and I first started going out her daughter was a young teen and her and DW were at eachothers last nerve as teen girls and their mothers tend to get sometimes.

 

We were going out a few months and they must have been even better than we thought they were.

 

DD said to me "Whatever it is you do to my mother , keep it up. She is actually bearable to live with" *LOL*

[jennmaybe]

We do the cruises without our daughter, because we consider that "our" vacation. However, we take 3-4 trips a year, so she get so to choose somewhere that she wants to go. We've done Busch Gardens, Hershey Park, tons of beaches, Sea World, and next Spring we go back to Disney.

[1frayfan]

We will be going on our first cruise next month...without the kids. Grandma will be coming to stay with them. I am already feeling guilty....my daughter, 9, wants to go sooo bad. We have promised they can go on the next one! :rolleyes:

 

While we are on this subject....do those of you that leave your kids with family/friends have some kind of form notorized saying that they are their guardians for the time you are away? If so, where can I get something? Is there a website with some kind of printable letter? I am just worried about something happening and they may need medical attention while we are away. Want to make sure all the bases are coverd!

[HazelSmrf]

I have a 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old son, we are going without them this time... I think my daughter would have a blast, but I just don't want to be on a cruise ship with a 1 year old. I figure when my son is 4, then it'll be more feasible.

[Timmys_mom]

Without a shred of guilt, I leave my kids (now ages 13 and 10) behind once a year to cruise. I have taken them on one cruise, and I am sure they would love to go again, but this is my time. They do get a "big" vacation every year, but it isn't a cruise. As a single parent, paying for 3 cruises and 3 airfares gets to be rather expensive.

 

I had to wait until I was 40 to cruise, so they are way ahead of the game as far as I am concerned. Someday we will go again as a family, just not right now.

[jaxcruiser23]

Our boy's alway's stay with the grandparent's when we take a vacation for ourselves.Even this year in about 2 month's we will be on a cruise and the kid's are staying with grandma and great-grandpa,grandmother is coming with us:D.So yes it's ok to take a cruise or any other vacation for just the 2 of you.Plus we took our boy's camping through out the summer so we did have our family vacation,plus they like cruise's so we are taking them on a x-mas cruise this year for just us 5.

[shelby101]

I always cruised without my daughter. I think parents need some time alone without the kids. If kids do everything when they are young they have nothing to look forward to. I don't think they need to do everything with the parents. Just try saying no to them for a change.

[truchattycathy]

I cruise w/o my kids, w/o my grandkids, and ummmm w/o my DH. :D It is me time!

[GlendaleCruiser]

I stopped taking my kids when it was clear that they felt they were missing something important (friends) at home.

 

Now they have kids of their own and wish I would take them all, but alas, 'tis not to be. They'll have to finance their own now.:p

[bankerbabe]

We will be going on our first cruise next month...without the kids. Grandma will be coming to stay with them. I am already feeling guilty....my daughter, 9, wants to go sooo bad. We have promised they can go on the next one! :rolleyes:

 

While we are on this subject....do those of you that leave your kids with family/friends have some kind of form notorized saying that they are their guardians for the time you are away? If so, where can I get something? Is there a website with some kind of printable letter? I am just worried about something happening and they may need medical attention while we are away. Want to make sure all the bases are coverd!

We do leave notarized letters for the grandparents, along with their insurance cards, and a WAY TOO DETAILED list of information they might need.

 

If you need a copy of my notarized form, feel free to email me at bankerbabe_lisa at yahoo dot com. I'd be happy to share, just put something like Notarized Form in the subject line so that I don't think you are a spammer.

 

On the other hand, you can also search for "Child Care Delegation Form" and I'm sure you will find something that will work. I think that's how I got my form.