Kids: Must Not be Left Alone and GREAT to Bring Along
The other night my wife and I were at home doing a few errands. We left our kids in the room the four of us share and we were content they would find ways to keep themselves occupied as all their toys and books are in there and they had done a pretty good job of keeping themselves entertained in the past when well stocked up with toys and books.
What we didn't figure on was how our soon-to-be-three-year-old daughter, Tala, apparently wasn't contented to just play with her toys. When I walked into the room I was somewhat shocked to find that somehow she had gotten a hold of a bottle of Virgin Coconut Oil we kept in the room for backrubs and some shampoo and had managed to spill all of it onto the floor. Of course, Theia and I, after we had wiped the greasy mess all up, were livid.
Of course, Apel was quick to rat his sister out, but I was just as quick to point out to him that he had been with her the whole time and had done nothing to stop her. He was sufficiently chastised.
You just can't leave kids, alone, really. At the same time, experience has shown that it can be actually quite enjoyable to bring them everywhere.
When my family and I went on vacation last year to Bohol and Cebu, one of the highlights of the affair, for me, was getting to share the experience with them, in particular the kids. I had done a little bit of domestic traveling when I was single; a couple of long road trips and a couple of trips to the Visayas and Mindanao, but I had ever and always gone alone.
The experience was different with two small children along; their sense of wonder makes everything seem new and wonderful, and while Bohol was new and wonderful to both me and Theia considering neither of us had ever been there, I think the experience of having kids who loved everything about our trip just enhanced the whole experience that much more.
It wasn't the first time we'd been out of town as a family; we'd done two trips to Baguio and a tour of the north back in 2006, and it most likely won't be our last.
As travelers, people and general can get pretty jaded and I'm no exception, especially when I see eyesores like a McDonald's sitting right smack in a cherished historical gem like Vigan. Things like that can really piss me off, but fortunately, having kids along just makes all of the little things that would otherwise annoy me seem so completely trivial that I can't but have an absolutely fabulous time.
Would I have had a great time with just Theia, doing all kids of...ehem...adult things? Well, probably, and it's just as well that one of the places we stayed in was pretty big and had two bedrooms because in the dead of the night we did...adult things.
But quite honestly I don't much fancy getting burned on the beach or playing in kiddie pools, so frankly I'm glad I brought along a couple of little people who could appreciate all that beautiful white sand on the shores of Panglao. I'm glad I was with people who loved three of the four swimming pools at the various places where we stayed.
I'm glad that, even though I had a great deal of fun discovering the Bee Farm, and Dumaluan, and Alona Beach and all of those places, there were people who came along who seemed to have even more fun, because quite frankly their enjoyment only increased my own.
It's a good thing we didn't leave them alone in any of the hotel rooms with a bottle of coconut oil...
What we didn't figure on was how our soon-to-be-three-year-old daughter, Tala, apparently wasn't contented to just play with her toys. When I walked into the room I was somewhat shocked to find that somehow she had gotten a hold of a bottle of Virgin Coconut Oil we kept in the room for backrubs and some shampoo and had managed to spill all of it onto the floor. Of course, Theia and I, after we had wiped the greasy mess all up, were livid.
Of course, Apel was quick to rat his sister out, but I was just as quick to point out to him that he had been with her the whole time and had done nothing to stop her. He was sufficiently chastised.
You just can't leave kids, alone, really. At the same time, experience has shown that it can be actually quite enjoyable to bring them everywhere.
When my family and I went on vacation last year to Bohol and Cebu, one of the highlights of the affair, for me, was getting to share the experience with them, in particular the kids. I had done a little bit of domestic traveling when I was single; a couple of long road trips and a couple of trips to the Visayas and Mindanao, but I had ever and always gone alone.
The experience was different with two small children along; their sense of wonder makes everything seem new and wonderful, and while Bohol was new and wonderful to both me and Theia considering neither of us had ever been there, I think the experience of having kids who loved everything about our trip just enhanced the whole experience that much more.
It wasn't the first time we'd been out of town as a family; we'd done two trips to Baguio and a tour of the north back in 2006, and it most likely won't be our last.
As travelers, people and general can get pretty jaded and I'm no exception, especially when I see eyesores like a McDonald's sitting right smack in a cherished historical gem like Vigan. Things like that can really piss me off, but fortunately, having kids along just makes all of the little things that would otherwise annoy me seem so completely trivial that I can't but have an absolutely fabulous time.
Would I have had a great time with just Theia, doing all kids of...ehem...adult things? Well, probably, and it's just as well that one of the places we stayed in was pretty big and had two bedrooms because in the dead of the night we did...adult things.
But quite honestly I don't much fancy getting burned on the beach or playing in kiddie pools, so frankly I'm glad I brought along a couple of little people who could appreciate all that beautiful white sand on the shores of Panglao. I'm glad I was with people who loved three of the four swimming pools at the various places where we stayed.
I'm glad that, even though I had a great deal of fun discovering the Bee Farm, and Dumaluan, and Alona Beach and all of those places, there were people who came along who seemed to have even more fun, because quite frankly their enjoyment only increased my own.
It's a good thing we didn't leave them alone in any of the hotel rooms with a bottle of coconut oil...
posted by Jim Arroyo | 9:50 PM
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