Accepting Failure

I have been struggling for a while on how to start this blog. I knew I wanted it to be about helping others to overcome the challenges of travelling with babies and children, but what to make the first post. I shall skip our life stories but in synopsis we are a mom, a dad, a 8 year old son, and 20 month old twins.

As you may have guessed from the title, no matter how well you plan, how many accessories you have, and how well seasoned you are as a traveller, sometimes travelling with kids means accepting failure. I am purporting to have become experienced travelling with children, but even for our family, “failures” happen. It is how you deal with the failures that will define your travel experiences.

Story time…

We currently live in London, England and have been here about a year after spending the rest of our lives in Canada. Before the twins were born, we came to London on a holiday. We attempted to see the British Museum but between the sheer number of people visiting that day, a pregnant wife, a less than enthused five year old who only wanted to see mummies, and some oppressive heat in that building, it just wasn’t working. Since we have lived here I believe we have tried to return three or four times, but each time, one or more of the kiddos just were not up to the challenge.

I have referred to the British Museum as my white whale and my windmills wrapped into one hideous beast of unyielding evil.

So what to do?

No matter how much you want to see the Elgin Marbles, do you want to see them with three cranky kids in tow? No matter how much the little ones enjoy museums, sooner or later they will have had enough.

Get ice cream, play at a park, or just move on. Have some fun elsewhere and don’t ruin your holiday getting stressed. For example, there is a park with fountains to play in just a block away from the British Museum. If you put the Elgin Marbles out of your mind, you might even have fun kicking off your shoes and splashing around as well. You are still hopefully creating memories that will last a lifetime.