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July 27, 2007
Summer holiday tips
Pre-planning will save time and let you relax.
KELLEY KORBIN
As a self-confessed extreme A-type, I always set about preparing
for our annual summer vacation with grandiose plans. Imaginative
crafts, elaborate games and gourmet meals are all in my repertoire.
And while these great intentions don't always come to fruition,
they do set the tone for a wonderful holiday.
The secret to a relaxing cottage vacation is in the planning, especially
if you will have children with you. Put some thought into your vacation
in advance. Tie up all the loose ends you can at work so they won't
keep you up at night. Next, find someone to look after your place
while you're away, so that hot sunny days can be enjoyed without
having you fretting about the garden at home. Finally, think about
the journey and make sure it will be as relaxing as possible. Make
ferry reservations if you need them, have the car serviced and fill
it up with gas. Make time to visit your local library to pick up
some summer reading and, the saving grace of long car rides with
kids, books on CD.
Once these practicalities are out of the way, you can start thinking
about how you're actually going to spend your days at the cottage.
This can involve checking out cottage craft or game ideas in books
or on the Internet, perusing some recipes that are delicious, simple
and don't necessarily involve hot dogs or a lot of dishes and picking
up any supplies that you won't be able to find easily around your
cottage.
I confess I'm not nearly as organized as I hope to be. As we head
out the door, car jam-packed with coolers, duffle bags and Rubbermaid
bins full of "essential" supplies for our annual vacation,
we often have to turn around and go back for some imperative and
forgotten item (usually some sort of stuffed animal). More importantly,
I often haven't had time to do the grocery and liquor store run,
so we have to stop on the way. However, I recently discovered that
this planning deficiency can actually be a boon to getting the kids
involved and setting the tone for a fun holiday.
Instead of insanely running around the grocery store throwing things
in your cart and appeasing whiny kids who are demanding sugar cereal
while your better half browses the magazine racks, why not start
the trip off with a grocery store scavenger hunt? It's easy and
fun and no one gets hurt – you just have to put up with a few
frustrated looks from the store employees who don't necessarily
appreciate nine-year-olds in charge of their own shopping carts.
Just give each reading member of your family a portion of the shopping
list (I always include an option for them to pick up a treat of
their choice), grab your carts and go. The first family member to
the check out with everything on their list wins. This challenge
has left my kids clamoring for more. Indeed, it seems that finding
wholewheat English muffins and six ears of corn is just as fun as
hunting for clam shells and four-leaf clovers in a more traditional
scavenger hunt.
Now, if only someone can help me find a game to get the kids begging
to do the dishes.
For my husband and me, our little introduction to vacation fun only
fuels the enthusiasm for an action-packed week. So when we arrive
at the cottage, we're still moving at a pretty fast pace. Within
a few hours, the cottage is up and running – hot water heater
and propane fridge on, groceries and clothing put away, dinner started.
The kids, of course, begin to unwind as soon as they arrive and
are busy taking up where they left off last vacation – at the
dock with a fishing line or sitting on the deck with an Archie
comic. But plans so carefully laid are not easily thwarted by lazy
kids. There are crafts to complete and games to play.
You can round up the troops for tie-dyeing or an obstacle course
and the kids will be more than happy to oblige, but soon, you'll
realize that they were just as happy doing their own thing without
your intervention.
Usually, this early in the holiday, I am still in city mode and
undaunted. I press on to a gourmet dinner, followed by a family
game of charades. The next morning, I spring out of bed and make
coffee and a beautiful breakfast of crepes, complete with berries
and maple syrup. By the end of breakfast, I need a nap.
By lunch, you can count on your resolve definitely weakening: the
beers are finally cold, and the deck chairs call. The best thing
you can do for a successful holiday now is to yell, "There's
cheese in the fridge, bread in the drawer and fruit on the counter,"
in response to mounting hunger pleas.
A full 24 hours after you left home, you'll probably be ready to
settle into a chair with a book, only to be roused by your own hunger,
thirst or the offer of a game of Scrabble.
The thing about planning is that by being prepared for any eventuality,
you can actually start to relax and recognize what the kids instinctively
feel the minute they set foot in the cottage: you're on holiday
with the people who matter most to you, and when you're on holiday,
you don't need to achieve anything, you don't need to be productive
– you just have to slow down long enough to let the environment
and the energy of family and friends envelope you.
But I never regret all the pre-vacation planning I did. The crafts
and games get us through the rainy days, and if I hadn't planned
in advance, we probably would never have managed to co-ordinate
a Fear Factor competition or, more recently, an Amazing
Race around our property. In this latest challenge, I even managed
to get my father to cliff jump and my mother to go for a tube ride
behind the boat – memories of their Nanny and Poppy that their
grandchildren will never forget.
Kelley Korbin is a freelance writer living in West Vancouver.
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