Would you holiday without your children?

Could you, would you, do you?  I remember in 2002 on our first holiday abroad with Chloe we got talking to another young couple in a bar who then said that they were on holiday for two weeks without their child.  At the time I found this really strange and could not imagine leaving my own child for that long, no matter who they had been left with. I thought they were selfish, I said as much to Lee who agreed. I was rather judgmental about them, their priorities and their ‘poor, abandoned and (in my opinion) neglected’ child.

However we have since gone away for a three night trip to Spain without the children (before we had Erin). It was done on a whim and I really enjoyed it , we were able to eat a meal in a nice restaurant, drink until we wanted and have lie in’s in the morning.  For tired parents it was a great way to refresh and relax.  The children stayed with nanny and grandad who don’t get much one to one time with them living 2.5 hours away from us. We are all close and I now feel that it is important for the children to develop the relationship they have with grandparents without mum or dad lurking in the background. I did feel bad when I rang the children only to be told Dyl was being sick and missing me, nothing like a vomit to induce the feelings of guilt!  We haven’t done it since, not because I wouldn’t like to but we haven’t had the opportunity and haven’t felt the need to. Now the children are older it is easier to holiday with them. They like going out for dinner, they can handle late nights and lazy morning lie ins.

I don’t think the older two would let us go now feeling that they were missing out by not taking them on holiday too. I can see that if you co parent the opportunity to holiday separately would be more manageable, in fact my children have told me its not fair that some of their friends get so many holidays as they go on separate holidays with mum and then dad!  Oh the hard life my own children have!!

I don’t think I’d ever go away for a couple of weeks without the children. I’m not sure I would feel relaxed being away from them that long.  What about holidays away from the OH?  Now that seems a nice idea!  Lee is much more active than me on holiday – my idea of the perfect holiday includes magazines, cocktails and lying down.  Lee’s involves long walks or watching sport in a bar!

However the time has come and I will be leaving Erin and Dyl for five nights soon, the longest I have been away from either of them.  I will also be away from Lee – again the longest we have been apart since 2004, when he buggered off to India for a fortnight whilst I was seven and a half  months pregnant!  I will be leaving the children with their dad and don’t have any concerns about that side of things as he is more than capable – plus it will be good for him to deal with the day to day stuff for a few days!

Chloe and I are going away together – just the two of us. It will be great, it will be relaxing and I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with her. I think it is great to spend time with each of your children individually, to really chat and hang out. However I know I will miss the rest of the family.

We will all be having a family holiday in Newquay later in August – so this isn’t instead of the family having a holiday it is an addition. I am intrigued to know whether many people do holiday separately or would holiday with either their OH or the children.

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