Photo by mikebaird
Carol Cain discusses how raising a family has changed the way she views her surroundings.
I love traveling. It’s always been an opportunity for me to discover something new and escape the monotony of every day life at home. Weekend getaways and spontaneous trips with friends were important and necessary for me to recharge and learn to deal with the not so fascinating aspects of regular life.
This, of course, was before I had children. Lots of them. Three to be exact. A world of one, became a world of two and very quickly after, a family of five.
That’s an uneven enough number to make it difficult to sit on one row together on planes. Just enough to have to pay an “extra person” fee at hotels. Just enough to need to rent the more expensive, bigger car for a road trip. Just enough to have to stay home.
It seemed that my life of new discoveries was over, and I would have to settle for the non-nomadic life of a Mom of an uneven five.
Photo by fast eddie 42
True, I live in New York City, one of the most amazing cities in the world, but I’ve been here long enough and seen it all.
At least that’s what I thought until I started walking around my city with kids in tow. I realize that no simple trip is ever really that simple, and it’s never boring.
Now, I see things in a new light when I take the time to listen to them and see through their eyes. I notice the beauty of the diversity in the people I pass every day on the street. So we find local places where we enjoy that diversity further.
When I see my three all excited by the sounds of music in the subway or the streets — sounds I stopped hearing — I am inspired to introduce them to the endless number places where they can enjoy music.
We discover new places together as well. Wonderful places like The New Victory Theater, and the talented musicians that cater to them without torturing me.
And they continue to inspire me, pointing out the things I have taken for granted for so long or never even noticed myself.
My family, my uneven number five, brings balance to my life and a depth to my surroundings in a way I have never before experienced. By forcing me to slow down, to stop, to notice the wonders around me and to enjoy fully the things I see on the street, in the supermarket and everywhere else,
I realize that every day can be an adventure, right here, and that I don’t have to travel too far away places to find it.
We’ve started traveling more and more as they get older. And it still is something I love to do. But when we aren’t on the road or on a plane, our adventures don’t stop.
The slower pace, brought about by our children, has shown us to appreciate even the simplest of things and make the city our playground.
I never know what new thing we will discover on any given day, making this the best trip ever.
Community Connection
What major changes have you faced when welcoming new additions to the family? How did you adjust?
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8 Comments... join the discussion!
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This was a beautiful read! And like Hal, I absolutely loved the title too.
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Agreed, absolutely adored this piece!
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It’s good to be reminded that the ‘adventure’ doesn’t stop after kids; it just changes.
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Beautifully said!
My husband and I have continued to travel with our two young daughters in tow, and though more challenging and different, it’s amazing to see the world through their eyes. Thanks for reminding me and others that amazing experiences are just around the corner as well as around the world… it’s all how you look at things.
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One of the first articles we published after I began as Life editor discussed the Children vs Travel conundrum from the opposite point of view.
http://matadorlife.com/family-vs-travel-the-regret-of-the-road-not-taken/
It also seems like many people are questioning whether or not they even want to have children these days, as opposed to years past when marriage and children were almost a foregone conclusion.
It’s a tough choice in many ways, because choosing one door forever closes the other (perhaps moreso when making the choice to have a child). But I cannot help but be content to recognize how lucky we are to be able to make such a choice.
Thanks, Carol, for your poetic and thought provoking view of the subject.
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Thank you for such a positive piece on travel with children. I’ve read all those blogs about the difficult choice of kids or travel…..bravo to you for making it clear that children aren’t the issue, it’s the adult mind building in the negative factor.
I have triplets plus one more, grown now, but we traveled by car, plane, and the local commuter train (BART in San Francisco) and it was always interesting. Those are the trips I look back on now and relish the memories. I know that it also enriched the life of my children; it’s so wonderful to sit around with them now as adults and have one of them say “remember that time we were in Union Square at Christmas?” or “remember that stinky hotel we stayed at in Ensenada?”. Laughter and conversation ensue. Wouldn’t change a thing if I had to do it over.↵ -
beautiful
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