Teaching Kids To Be Great Travellers...

We started today in Bangor, Maine at 3 am. We've now arrived safely in Charlotte, NC for my cross stitch trade show this weekend to show off our 3 (and one to come) new designs. My girls have been absolutely WONDERFUL travellers and are now playing happily in the hotel room with their new Barbie dolls that we found during a Target foray upon arriving in the city.

What helps kids learn to be great travellers? Partly it is approaching trips with a sense of wonder and fun even as adults. You teach them to revel in the unexpected joys and discoveries along the way. You make travel time a special time to snuggle or play wicked games of Harry Potter UNO. One of the things that the girls enjoy most is the "Doodle Diary" that I keep for every big trip. I do tiny cartoons of events during each day and then we have a visual record of the "unforgettable" moments of the trip... such as not noticing until the second airline today that my sharp scissors were in my carry-on and having to mail them to myself at the hotel... such as discovering that Bethany is actually called Nethany in her new passport and that we'll have to correct that once we get home... or watching the girls faces light up when the National Car Rental lady handed them a bag of Beanie Babies when they got on the shuttle and told them to each pick one to take with them!

Travelling also opens their eyes to the way the world around them differs from life back home. As wel drove to the hotel, Erin noticed a man at one corner with a sign that said "hungy... will wash your car for food!" Since we didn't know if we were headed in the right direction, we couldn't really stop, but she did ask that we include him in our prayers tonight and mentioned him during grace at the restaurant because we were lucky enough to be eating out.

By learning to embrace the joys and wonders that travel can hold... how can you not pass that onto your kids? There's a big wide world out there to explore and enjoy!!