[Masha Richart]

I learned some years ago that, as many great things as there are about the U.S., as a workforce, we lack a proper appreciation for time off. I remember taking a nine-day trip to Peru early on in my (pre-kids) career. My traveling companion and I had signed up with a guide company to hike the Inca Trail. We were the only Americans on the tour and everyone else was traveling as part of holidays that were no shorter than one month. Some significantly longer. They were in shock that, not only was our vacation so short, but that it had taken us both a considerable amount of time to save up that many vacation days!

Thankfully my husband’s current job affords a bit more time off; but five weeks still makes me drool!

[Sarvi]

Ditto, that sounds heavenly, although to be honest, I don’t know if my toddler could handle that much time away from school without a school-like very structured routine to her days.

I’ve never been to Greece, can only imagine how fascinating it must be. Post lots of photos!

[Tamara]

Five weeks would be similar to annual leave in Australia plus a week. That is if you are fortunate to have a great job that allows that block of time altogether. Because we are self employed we have to make time to get away and that is always difficult. We never ever spend more than a week at a time away which makes trips overseas impossible. I hope to change the rules before the children are adults though – overseas trips while children are children create the greatest of childhood memories – says the one who can testify to that!

I wish you a wonderful splendiferous relaxing Greek getaway Lotta! It would be a perfect destination!

[lattemama]

We all get 25 days off each year and everyone is allowed to take 3 consecutive weeks off during summer, more if your workload allows.

(My father worked for the city and after being employed there for a certain number of years you get more vacation days. I think he had 40 days a year when he retired.)

The girls needed a bit more structure and routines when they were younger but it’s not so vital now.

We still try to do stuff and have a few activities planned but there is no routine.

This will be our third (my fourth) time in Crete. It’s such a big island, that there is always something to see if you don’t want to lie on the beach all day.

We spent our honeymoon on Santorini (Thira) and that island is so small you can drive around the whole island on a scooter in a morning. 14 days there was a bit long. This week will just fly by I’m sure.

[Justine J]

The total lack of routine is precisely why I would love to take the kids to Greece for an extended holiday – they would both love and get so much out of being able to run wild in the village where John’s family is from. And there would still be routine – just a different one – I love how everything shuts for siesta 🙂

We’ve been to Athens, Santorini, Paros and Mitilini/Lesvos – I’d love to go to Corfu next time we go, but it is on the other side of Greece to where John is from (Lesvos)

[Nicole]

Oh Justine, that sounds wonderful!

Two weeks is never long enough.

[meleliza]

Of cour I’m familiar with the European customs of long vacations. But it still sounds nice. Part of our problem has been that hubby was the chief in a start up, so even when we booked vacation, he always ended up working. Once, I saved up for an entire year so we could go visit his mother in England. We had four weeks. He was supposed to work two and take the other two off. I think he got once day off. We even had to find a place he could take a conference call when we went up to London for the day. Another time, my parents actually took the boys for a couple of nights and we booked a resort for the weekend. His boss had a death in the family the day we left and he worked the. entire. time. I was furious and it was all he could do to stop me from billing his company the cost of the hotel.

This summer we will get one whole week down the shore and it seems like a luxury! I also booked a family weekend in DC next week, which probably we can’t afford, but it’s important to us that we do fun stuff together. My parents and I never took vacations and when we did they were always awful. I’m saving for another trip to England too and I hope we can make it happen next year.

Meanwhile, today is the first day of summer vacation! There’s lots to do in the city, so we have all made a list of all the fun things we want to do together. I’m concentrating on the free stuff. 🙂 My mother is coming up when we’s get back from DC and shortly thereafter taking my boys to her house for like 10 days! Having just one easy child to look after will be a vacation for me. Because the truth is, when you have more than one young child, you’re never completely on vacation.

Now I’m off to start the spring cleaning. It will cut into my sewing time, but i look forward to getting the house cleaned up for the summer. Plus, my oldest is home now to help out. He’ll do just about anything for extra allowance!

[Maggie]

My husband gets time off like a European. Good thing since he’s Irish and could not adjust to the US lack of adequate holidays. Now he works for a government agency (railroad) and gets a smaller salary and more time off. For us, the trade is worth it.

The family member with the least time off is my ‘special needs’ daughter. Her school is year round with only short breaks. The rest of us plan around her schedule.

Still there are transitions. My other daughter is wrapping up school and looking forward to camp. She is also starting swimming lessons. I hope they go well. I am not a great swimmer, but I hope she will have a chance to learn properly and enjoy it.

People seem to do so many lessons with their kids. I don’t know how they find the time to run kids to gymnastics or piano or whatever.

[Tamara]

I would absolutely LOVE to take my children overseas! I may have mentioned I was lucky to spend twelve months in the UK when I was just eight years old and I still have fond memories. It is just such a great experience to see how other people live, even though our cultures are very similar.

Just going somewhere like the US for a four week vacation would be grand – you could get to see something at least!

Or do a trip across the Nullabor to visit family in South Australia and Victoria would be awesome!

But I have always wanted to visit my Scottish and Scandinavian roots. Both places are absolutely fascinating to me.

[Sarvi]

Ah, this is so reassuring to hear. I hope the need for structure has more to do with the age generally rather than my kid, specifically. Aaron and I both really like unplanned, ‘what shall we discover today’ holidays and it would be nice to have some of that feeling when traveling as a family. We’ll see what happens as she gets older. Maybe mom & dad will take a few days for a grown-ups holiday while she’s at Camp Grandma.

[meleliza]

Yes, age is definatley a part of it. The young the child, the more need for structure. We travel very differently with kids. Not that we travel all that much, but still. For example, I don’t allow anyone to skip naps any more than I would allow them to skip breakfast. This was granted a little easier with just the boys, since they’re so close in age and they weren’t in school yet. When we went to England with the boys, we rented a tiny cottage in the center of town. In the mornings, we went out maybe to the seaside or the park and came back for lunch and naps. After naps we might go out somewhere else and get home for dinner. This was, everyone was rested and happy and we had an amzing time. Also, we didnt try to cram everything in. Some afternoons, they just hung out at their grandmothers house in the garden. There were occasional days we would go out for the whole day (like driving to Windsor or going up to London on the train) and skip the naps, but if you do that often you just end up with tired, cranky, miserable kids, and since tired, cranky, miserable kids cause tired, cranky, miserable parents, no one has any fun. Our way, we all had the time of our lives. Except dad, who worked the whole time even though he scheduled two weeks off.

We’re actually off to DC next weekend. It will be a little though with the baby, but it’s only the weekend. We take the train down on Friday morning and I plan to go straight to the hotel to nap the baby. Maybe the boys can go out with one of us or to the hotel pool. Saturday, she will definatley get back to the hotel for a nap too. Sunday will be a long day because I didn’t want to cut the weekend too short. Well have the morning to do one last thing in dc and then catch the 1pm train. This will screw up the nap, but we’ll be home in plenty of time to have dinner and get everyone in bed on time. To people who don’t have young children, I suppose this sounds awfully prescriptive and un-fun, but in reality, planning for meals and sleep makes it easier for evyone to have a good time. We’re going to see this special Pirate exhibit at the National Geographic museum. The boys are excited! Other than that, I just have a vague list of things that might be nice to do/see. High in my list are the free things. 🙂 My husband has never been to DC before and I haven’t been since I was a teenager. As long as you’re not in a car, it’s a nice place to visit.

[with love Heidi]

I have just read a very interesting set of blog posts on well fitting bras.

http://www.thinandcurvy.com/p/bra-fitting.html

Really interesting, it also helped me understand why the last fitting I had I felt the bra did not fit right in the cups and it dosen’t! But it was the largest they had, so they had to sell it to me rather than suggesting I go elswhere 🙁 I thought it may also be helpful to us who want to sew for ourselves because if the bra isn’t fitting us properly it may be very difficult to get a dress/top too as well.

If this isn’t appropriate to have here please remove it.

[Masha Richart]

YES, withloveheidi! When I learned this way to measure, my life changed. Clothes fit better and I looked slimmer. Of course, now I cannot find my cup size in any brick and mortar store, so I order my bras online. It’s kind of ridiculous, actually, that the range of cup sizes in your average retail establishment is so small (at least, this is the case in the places I’ve lived in the U.S.).

I took oldest daughter (aged 3 and 9 months) to preschool this morning for the first time. We are trying it out for the last two weeks of the year to determine whether this school is the one I want her to attend in the fall. I braced myself for tears and hysteria but they did not come. She skipped into the classroom with nary a look behind her. Milestone crossed. Mama not sure how she feels about it.

[meleliza]

Thanks, Heidi. It’s always useful to double check. Yes, the big chains have crazy small size range in bras. I have good luck with Nordstrom. I shop online and look for sales. I also use a boutique store with good online sales and excellent customer service called breakout bras. I discovered them when I was nursing.

roundtheworldgirl, It’s hard to send that first one off to school! And the last one too. I can’t seem to let her go. The trendy thing here is to send 2 year olds to preschool now, but I don’t see the point. In addition to being very expensive, I think it’s better for her to be home with mom at such a tender age. But, she’s probably the only 2yo in the city who’s at home! And that makes it hard to find people to play with. 🙁 I’m going to have to send her somewhere next year, I guess, and I really need to apply like 6months ago or I won’t have a spot. It’s all such an enourmous hassle.

That middle one, on the other hand, I can’t wait to get rid of. 😉

[Tamara]

Here’s to a smooth transition for both of you roundtheworldgirl.

I am sort of on edge at the moment. School rang and they want to talk to me regarding my son! A general chat they said! Which means half the admin and me! So of course trying not to panic here!

I hate general chats with teachers. It seems to turn negative alot of the time and I just want to hear something good about my child – because I know I have cared for children who are far worse than mine!

He has been putting on an act since returning to school from that bad bout of flu and gastro in order to be sent home “sick”. I even made him rest in the sick bay when school rang just last week telling me he had apparently been ill in class. It isn’t real! He was very cross with me when I collected him off the bus that day.

What do you do when your children put on an act in order to avoid school? My favourite is my version of the story Peter and the Wolf. It seems to work if you retell it over and over.

Sometimes I feel as though I’m sending my children to the Lion’s den but in this case I am drawn between complete frustration and worry.