Creating Memories with a business trip combined with spring break

By Maria Bailey

Last week, I did something that ranks at the top of my priorities as a parent. I created childhood memories for my children. You know the kind, those moments that get filed away in your brain somewhere not to resurface again until an unexpected time in the future when the thought of them brings a smile to your face and a warm feeling to your heart.

I'll be the first to admit that it isn't the easiest task I do as a parent but I'm confident that the payoff will be big someday. I expected to work when I planned to take three children under 8 years old across the United States for a business trip/spring break getaway. I knew six hours in a plane, countless hours in lines at amusement parks and maintaining peace in the backseat of a rental car was going to be difficult, but I never expected to have so much fun doing it. Every where we went the comments were the same, "Boy are you brave to travel alone with three children."

Perhaps crazy might be a better adjective to use since it takes craziness to survive juggling work and family, doesn't it? My friends have always categorized me as crazy. It is just part of my personality so I'm comfortable with the label. Crazy was visiting Disneyland, Legoland and Knott's Berry Farm in two days. Crazy was allowing the kids to jump into the Pacific Ocean in order to teach them the temperature difference between the Atlantic and Pacific. I guarantee they now know which one is colder. Crazy was trying to fly standby on oversold flights with four people but we eventually made it home. Of course, no trip can be perfect. On this trip the airlines lost our luggage, luckily it was on the return flight, but I have been going crazy without my favorite blow dryer.

Our little vacation was all about my kids. I did everything from substituting lunch for M&M's and soda to ordering chicken fingers and cheese fries from room service and eating them in bed well after our normal bedtime. It was all about my children and making sure they were having fun. It was amazing how easy it all became once I put my focus in the right place. I didn't worry about the delayed flights or getting to the hotel before our reservations were cancelled. I didn't worry about my unanswered e-mails or the slow driver in front of me. It was all about my kids and creating childhood memories.

In creating their memories, I found myself reflecting on my own. I remembered standing in mountain streams fishing for trout with my father who is now deceased and pleading with my mother and sister not to take me on log flumes because I hated the drop. I remembered my own mother trying to conquer multiple amusement parks with seven children in tow and I realized how much harder she had to work to create our memories for us. Life is about a series of experiences and how we approach each one. In fact, it's through these experiences that we gain life lessons. I'm confident that in creating memories for my children I've somehow given them an experience that they will one day apply to their lives.

Take time this week to create a memory with your child.

Share your thoughts on our message board or email Maria.

Also see:
• Week Thirty-Two -- Making Spring Break plans
• Week Thirty-One -- Importance of a Support System
• Week Thirty -- Life is good
• Week Twenty-nine -- My nine year anniversary
• Week Twenty-Eight --Does birth order matter?
• Week Twenty-Seven -- Things we take for granted
• Week Twenty-Six -- My youngest turned two
• Week Twenty-Five -- Losing someone you love
• Week Twenty-Four -- Where's the romance in Valentine's Day?
• Week Twenty-Three -- The call I've been waiting for
• Week Twenty-Two -- Where did the weekend go?
• Week Twenty-One -- Business trip challenges
• Week Twenty -- Girl Scout cookie time
• Week Nineteen -- Thoughts on motherhood
• More diary entries

Maria Bailey is the CEO and founder of BlueSuitMom.com and a mother of four children under the age of seven.