How To Recover From Family Vacations

How to Recover from Family Vacations is a sponsored guest post*. If you are interested in writing for A Modern Mom’s Life, please visit my Guest Posting page.

 

You often see advice on how to prepare for family vacations and various family events, but what about how to deal with the aftermath? With family vacations, there is a tendency to feel nostalgic for where you went and to not feel like doing much work around the house.

You’ve probably spent the week of vacation being pampered and having things done for you, and you may not feel much like getting back to the grind. You might think that your only option is to just get straight back in the swing of things, but there is a better way to handle it.

Instead of just getting quickly back into your daily grind, you can take some time to relax and reminiscence. Easing back into doing what you are used to will be less jarring and will, in a way, stretch out your vacation experience just a bit more.

 

Recall the Experience

You won’t want to forget your vacation, and neither will your kids. Be sure to take lots of photos while you are there, and then spend some time at home afterwards looking through the photos with your kids.

Talk about all the things you did and discuss what the best experiences were. Find out what your kids enjoyed the most and which parts they disliked. You might be surprised at what you learn about them. This is a great way to bond with your kids and help plan for the next trip.

How to Recover from Family Vacations

 

Plan Ahead

Speaking of which, this can be a good opportunity to talk about possibilities for the next vacation. As you are looking at photos from the one you just took, you can discuss where you all might want to go next and what makes those places appealing to you. Try not to lock in a set date or place just yet. You will be too fresh from the last vacation to think as levelheaded as you would like about the next one, but you can at least map out some possibilities and talk about what might be enjoyable to try.

You can spend some time researching with your kids some new places to visit. Look online and use videos and resources like Google Street View to get an idea of what going to those new locations would be like. Once again, this is a great way to get closer to your children and find out what they are interested in. Involving them in the planning stage can help them to enjoy the next vacation even more. The is especially important if they were not very excited about the last place you visited.

How to Recover from Family Vacations

 

Ease Back to Work

Most family vacation involve spending some time at a hotel and having your cleaning responsibilities generally taken care of for you. The trash is taken out and the beds made when you are away from the hotel, and you might want to enjoy some of that at home when you get back. Marge at DiamondCleaningCa advises “You can hire a cleaning service to come and do some small chores or all your housework- whatever you can afford and would feel comfortable with”. This gives you a bit of the hotel experience at home, and it can be a nice way to give the kids a bit of a break after the exhaustion of hurrying from one sight to the next on vacation.

You don’t have to jump right back into doing all your daily chores and having your kids do theirs. Hiring a cleaning service is not for everyone, but you can replicate that experience for your kids if you want to them to enjoy their vacation a bit longer. Small things like doing some of their chores for them can make a big difference and help them to feel the transition from vacation to their regular schedule with less impact.

 

Do Some Fun Things

You don’t want your kids to think that they have boring life and that going back home after a vacation is simply the worst. They need to feel like they can have a good time at home. It can be tough to make their daily grind compare to family vacations. To help ease the pain and relieve some of their boredom, you can do some fun activities with them when you get back home.

How To Recover From Family Vacations

Take your kids to the beach, to a park, to the mall or somewhere else they may not usually go, and just spend some time relaxing. You can also have a game night (board games or video games) or let them stay up late and have an at-home party. Do something a bit unexpected and fun to give your kids a sense that they can enjoy themselves even in their own home and that vacationing isn’t the only place they can have fun.

You know what your kids like and how to make days special for them. So, no matter what you end up doing, be sure to give them some attention. Find out what they are thinking about and feeling after family vacations and get some bonding time. You’ll make the transition from vacation to daily grind much easier for them and grow closer to them in the process. The after-vacation period can be a great time to get to know your child and to connect with them on a few levels, but you have to put in the effort and take time from your schedule to make it happen.

 

It is possible to recover from family vacations very smoothly, without having to hear a bunch of complaining and see a lot of depression. Manage your emotions and those of your family by easing them back into things instead of abruptly going from vacation to work. Give them a chance to have some fun and relive their vacation when they get back home, and you’ll have a much happier household.

 

Margaret is an online mommy blogger writing since 2013. She explores topics surrounding parenting and entrepreneurship. When she’s not working, she enjoys hiking with her family.

 

I would love to know how you cope coming home from family vacations!  Personally, I try to book the trip with an extra day at the end before I have to get back to work.  I use that day for unpacking, laundry, and (hopefully) some quiet time enjoying just being at home.  (I’ll send the kids to school the first day we’re home, unless we don’t get in until some ungodly hour!)

Share your post-travel tips for staying in vacation mode as long as possible.  I love hearing from you!

~Jess

 

*A sponsored guest post is a paid placement on my blog.  The opinions in the piece of those of the writer and not necessarily those of A Modern Mom’s Life.  I do, however, agree that these are helpful tips!

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