10 ways to reconnect with your family on holiday
As a family we love to travel and have been fortunate enough to share some amazing holidays together over the last few years. As much as we all love to get away, enjoy some sunshine, take a break from work, and enjoy good food and a cocktail or two, the main thing for me is about spending time together as a family. With four children life is often hectic, particularly with Lewis back and forth to his Dads and sharing school holidays, so that time we get as a six is so precious and I always try to really make the most of it when it comes around.
Solmar Villas recently polled 1000 parents of children aged 5-17 to find out how they felt about reconnecting with their family on holiday and the results were really interesting. 86% of parents said holidays were a key bonding time for them with more than half stating they felt this was due to having time to sit down and talk together, and a third saying it was due to spending every day together. 2 in 5 said it was due to having less stress and 46% said they completely switch off on holiday which helps their family bond.
I asked a group of parent bloggers what they did to ensure their family holidays helped them to reconnect and they had some great advice,
1. Leave the phones/tablets – even cameras – back at the hotel, and head out somewhere. Live in the moment. – Tracey.
2. Don’t try to fit too much into a day. Try not to plan too much or you’ll end up stressing and worrying about time. Some of the best days we’ve had as a family we’re when we spent all day by the pool or all day on the beach. – Lisa.
3. Relax your parenting a little bit. If the children ask for ice cream at 10am, let them have it. Do things you’d usually say ‘no’ to or maybe have one or two completely ’yes’ days (unless of course it’s dangerous!) – Michelle.
4. Go somewhere new or explore a new place, even if just for an hour or two. Something you can all experience and take in for the first together. It’ll be something you’re more likely remember as well. – Sarah.
5. Let everyone have a chance to say what they would like to do on the holiday. A day out, a place to eat, an activity. – Laura.
6. Plan ahead! Since planning ahead by checking out local attractions/places to visit, the weather and even where to eat, it’s given us the chance to spend as much quality time together as possible. Prior to planning ahead, we’d lose at least 90 minutes a day of each holiday day, it doesn’t seem a lot but when holidays fly by, you want to enjoy as much of your time as possible. – Jada.
7. We bring alot of card games when we go away! We love playing with the boys and it isn’t something we get to do alot. – Jaymee.
8. Come up with a family ritual that you do on each holiday. Ours is usually going for a pre dinner cocktail or mocktail together.- Erica.
9. Accommodation choice is so important. We find that a hotel room just isn’t nice for chiiling out in as a family. An apartment, villa or a lovely mobile home is a much nicer space to enjoy quality downtime in on holidays with your family. – Lynne.
10. Make a scrap book of the holiday. Each day you can complete a page of the book with your little ones. You can encourage them to find things to stick into it eg, a small shell, tickets to an attraction you have attended together, a postcard etc. It provides you with a fun activity to do together each day and leaves you with a lovely keepsake! – Jennifer.
So with all of these lovely suggestions I am more excited than ever for our next trip in February and to enjoy some real bonding time as a family. How do you make sure you reconnect with your family on holiday?
** This is a collaborative post with Solmar Villas. All words and opinions are my own unless stated otherwise. **
