I haven't had time to put together a deep thoughtful post for this week. I just got through driving all day long. My only thoughts were to avoid all the crazy drivers and to find my exits. Much of my day was spent thinking things like...exit171...US65N...exit 171...did you see that new Camaro...I love the return of the American muscle car...What was that exit again?
With all that excitement going on my only choice is to share something about our trip. I decided to share a list of things that can help other's who dare to take their wife and baby on a business trip. Some of these things I learned by screwing up. Others I learned by making good choices. I won't tell you which are which. That is up to your imagination. Here is my list of tips for mixing business with pleasure and with your wife and with your baby.
- Make sure you get a large hotel room. Your family does not want to feel like they are waiting in a prison cell while you are at work.
- Plan some activities for them. Again they don't want to feel like prisoners while you are working.
- Don't come back to the hotel talking about work. If every minute is going to be about your job then you might as well stay home and invite them to your office.
- Try not to invite them to a job when you will have to start really early. If you come home tired and grumpy everyone loses. Especially if you have failed on any of the first three items.
- Give serious consideration to the sleeping arrangements. If the baby doesn't sleep then nobody in the hotel room sleeps. Neither does the guy next door.
- If you are driving be sure to have a flexible time schedule to allow for stopping to feed, change, or just play with the baby.
- Bring plenty of drinks and snacks for the car ride so you don't have to stop and wake the baby if they are sleeping. On a long car ride a sleeping baby is the ultimate goal.
Those are just some ideas. Spending time with family is always a great thing. Taking a little time to get things just right makes it even better.
13 comments:
All very good tips...We're planning a trip down to FL in December...Our little one will be about 7 month by then, I'm going to keep this list handy.
Amen. We just got back from a 4-hour car ride to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and my FF post is about vacationing with a baby.
It's tough, but worth it.
Great tips. You seem to be balancing your work and daddyhood...wonderfully.
Awesome tips. We're not planning a HUGE trip until xmas, when Ethan will be 15 months, but I'm already dreading the drive. 8 hours. I thought he'd be sitting forward-facing, but after doing my own research, I'm probably going to keep him rear-facing to 35 lbs...ughh.
My latest trip was a 5 hour drive turned into an 8.5 hour drive, but once she was asleep, we were full speed ahead. And we spent nights worrying about waking up the people next door. Trips are great...for the most part.
When my oldest was 6 months we drove from Ohio to Florida. We stopped more so that my Mom could pee than we did for anything dealing with the baby. Thankfully he is just like me, unconscious before we're out of the drive.
Great tips! I wish I had this list when mine were babies. I immediately thought of the car ride to Wisconsin to visit MIL. It was supposed to take 2 hours, with infant Oldest it took 5 hours and a lot of screaming. It was the infant of course. LOL
I'm glad you're home safe and sound, found all your exits and got to see muscle cars.
Friends of ours took a road trip and did a great thing: They wrapped up 19 toys (not new, just favourites) and gave their son a present to open every hour of the trip. I'm sure this fades when your kid is older than two, but sounded good to me!
Seems you, me and Daddy Files should start a child travel blog. I totally hear you on #6, definitely need to schedule some rest time. I had to deal with outlet shopping, you know, in order to keep mommy from being cranky. :)
I hope that you all got to squeeze in some happy fun stuff too.
Great tips! I love N.O.
All great tips. Spending quality time on a business trip can be tough though, especially when there's too much client schmooze time to do. I'm heading to N'awlins this week for a conference and wish Mama and Bea could be with me. Mama likes the humid heat. I do not.
Excellent tips. Bringing your wife and baby along on a business trip can make for a really great time, if you've done your homework and you make sure your baby's and wife's needs are met right.
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