For Moms: Creating a Better Mother's Day

Updated: Nov 22, 2022

What does travel and Mother’s Day have in common?

At first thought, maybe nothing. But on second thought, a whole lot.

Travel impacted my life as a mother iin a million ways. All of them good. Travel when my children were small was “family vacation time”. It wasn’t trips to Europe, or stays at All Inclusives. Not back then.

It was weeks in a rented house, camping in a pop-up, weekend skiing trips, car trips to fun places within 3 or 4 states away. Each of those trips presented me with an opportunity to be a better mom. Here’s why:

When we are at home with our children, we are planning meals, doing homework, doing the wash, running errands, taking kids to soccer, dance, piano. We are busy with the everyday chores and everyday “being-ness” of a busy family.

When we are traveling together, we are very different. We are all excited, (Mom may be tired from packing it all up, but still excited for the change), we are all looking forward to the upcoming days' adventures. The stress of all those chores getting done, the constant battles with getting homework accomplished, the last minute cookie run because you forgot it was Johnny’s turn to bring them…. its all gone. It’s just you and your family.

All of a sudden, you can listen to them; you can have fun with them; you can discover things about them. The lack of having to get it all done allows for real time together. Share the days adventures. Talk about what you did or didn’t like. Discuss the exploits of the day: did somebody overcome a fear? Did somebody accomplish a task they didn’t think they could do? Did somebody do something silly that will become a “family story”.

Vacationing with my children gave me the time to appreciate them, to really focus on their likes and dislikes, to strengthen my ties to them, and just love them to the moon and back.

And that is what makes my Mother’s Day so very special!

Time is fleeting, we only get minutes with our kids in the years that we raise them. On Mother’s Day, I celebrate that I had all those memories and minutes and fun with them. Travel made me a better mom to my children because it gave me the time to be present in their lives. The memories of those trips are stored in my mother’s heart. I can take them out anytime, but on Mother’s Day they get a special nod.