Being a good parent

  • 2010-04-15
  • By Ludmila Nikitina

TAKE THEM ALONG: Kids can be quite fun on vacation; it lets them see new worlds.

RIGA - One day, while intending to go on a holiday to the Mediterranean Sea with my family, I searched on the Internet for some hotel descriptions and reviews, and came across a tourist site with a very interesting article. The article was on the types of recreation which are meant for families with children, where the author points out the fact as to whether you want to bring your children on vacation with you.

The mere posing of this question struck me as so idiotic that I began to read on, hoping to understand why this author had questioned such an obvious and simple thing. In the article, it was said, not all children are the greatest joy in life for their parents. In the author’s opinion, parents can relax just by getting away from their children and spending time together. In the article, the author also quoted the names of romantic and interesting places just for two.
Lost in thought, I actively began searching the Internet topics related to family vacations and found another interesting story, but with the opposite opinion. This article gave the impression of urging parents not to leave their children at home, but, on the contrary, to relax together.

Reading about all the charms of a joint trip with children, advice on where to go and where it is more convenient to stay with kids, I got the feeling that this article is full of warmth. The article was written with humor and affection, in contrast to the first “masterpiece,” and full of positive emotions. The phrase at the end, in my opinion, was written by a genius: “If you do not take your children on vacation, then your children will not take you, either, when they grow up.”
Just think how deep this idea is..

Therefore, in anticipation of the summer season, I decided to turn to those parents who still doubt if they should take their children along, and give some advice.
My son is six years old and it is natural that he always goes on holiday with us. We started to take him with us when he was just two years old. For children under five, parents must choose a country with a temperate climate, or simply to choose an appropriate time of year, when it is no longer very hot. Usually, this is May, June and September.
There are a lot of places where it will not be less interesting for adults than for children: dolphins, nature museums, zoos, water parks or river rafting (for example, in Turkey, for parents with children in a big rubber boat).
The first tour of my son was sailing, which was a great pleasure for him.

Bus tours are suitable only if the ride does not last too long, and the tour itself is at least in the interests of the child. Of course, there is no need to drag a baby on a trip to see ancient ruins, but the museum, especially if it is thematic, would be a good idea. Themed museums are all around the world. For example, the Vasa Museum and the Museum of Astrid Lindgren in Stockholm; the Motor Museum, the Daugava River Museum, Latvia’s Ethnographic Museum, Maritime Museum in Klaipeda; Museum Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, and many others.

Personally, I already opened a “Window to Europe” for my son and I am very happy about that. The child sees the world through their eyes wide open, and parents get another chance to plunge into his childhood and see the world differently.
When we teach children to read and write, we also go back to our childhood, remembering how it was with ourselves. When our children see something for the first time and we tell them what it is, we’ll also get new information, which makes us intellectually richer.

This spring I’m going to take my son to Hamburg and Paris. The program is already put together: the zoo, museums, Disneyland, a walk along the Seine and Alster Lake. That is what we have already planned, and I am sure that our trip will be full of positive emotions and beautiful experiences, because we are together.