Having a Baby Changes Everything: Travel Edition

You'd think that by now, 15 months into parenthood, I would completely understand how utterly your life changes when you have a baby. And yet, I am still reminded often that having a baby really does change everything.

Our family is wrapping up our vacation season--we always travel in the fall before the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and we just returned from a trip to the beach to visit Godmother Doctor. It was Baby's First Beach Trip, and our first time traveling without Husband.

I have always loved the beach--I love the smell of the air, walking in the tide, and the relaxed atmosphere. And, as I'd hoped, Little Man loved all these things as well--only we replaced relaxed atmosphere with a non-stop energy that started before 5 AM ("Mama! Mama! Football!") and didn't end until Little Man was so tired he literally fell asleep sitting up.

In past years, one of my favorite things to do was to stroll the beach at night. There's nothing like a moonlit beach. I would sit on the balcony and write, letting my imagination spread out in all the room that the sea offers. I woke early and read books and watched the sun come up, and took long afternoon naps while the sun was at its peak.

This year? One night, I was in bed before 9 PM. Oh, I was still up before the sun--but I was dozing sitting up on the couch while my son drank milk from his sippy cup and sat riveted in front of The Mike & Mike Show on ESPN (his morning routine at home with Husband). I read approximately 1/4 of a magazine during the trip.

I find myself in need of a vacation to recover from my first travel season as a parent. If I thought finding time for myself at home difficult, I found it practically impossible to do so on vacation.

But traveling with my kid has a lot of perks, too. Like watching my fearless kid go running into the surf (and fractically running after him). Or sitting in the sand and building a castle and not worrying about getting dirty. Or crouching down way low to examine the shells that wash up on the beach. Everything is an adventure to him--exploring a hotel room, taking a bath in a different bathroom, being allowed to eat sitting on a grown-up chair (this was a particular thrill to him, as he is already trying to grow up too fast).

Some changes I anticipated, some I did not. But I wouldn't want it any other way. After all, I got my money's worth on this beach trip--and I had a really good excuse to play in the sand.