Six reasons why all parents should take trips without their family

To start with, I am directing this article at both parents, not just mums. I feel like more parents need to take trips without their families. I am surrounded by an amazing community of online parents who make a point of taking trips without their family. I love that they do and that I have those people in my world. They inspire me, encourage me and motivate me to continue to do the same. If you’re a parent, keep reading to hear my top six reasons why all parents should take trips without their family.

It’s very easy to forget who we are as people

Once we have kids, they very quickly become our world, the centre of our everything. The hundreds of decisions we make every single day ultimately revolve around our children. In my earlier years as a parent, I found it really hard because I felt like I didn’t know how to be myself and a parent. You lose the sense of being an adult, you are suddenly, “Mum” or “Dad”. It’s time to get that feeling of just being an individual human back!

We need to maintain connections

Whether the connections are to people, to nature, to something we love, it is important that we can maintain those relationships with those connections that make us who we are. Perhaps it is a love for football, or a love for attending musicals, or maybe it is climbing a mountain. These loves and passions don’t just disappear when a child comes along but too often, we let these things go until we feel as though we have lost a piece of ourselves.

Time to reflect and forward think

Parenthood is busy and fast paced. There is no time for thinking, reflecting, contemplating or prioritising what is important. As our kids grow older, their worlds change and ours do, too. It is hard to focus on ourselves when there are other people around us. Taking time out (and I mean at least three nights), gives us the opportunity to slow down, think, process, consider our lives and our priorities, perhaps even set ourselves some goals and next steps forward to continue to grow as adults.

We need time to be without you

As much as our family needs you there, our family also needs you to not be there sometimes, too. We need to learn to function without you. We need to learn to adapt, to be without, to be challenged, to find it hard. It is good for them. It’s important to let the kids grow up and become more independent. It is an important part of their growth and development, too.

We deserve and need a break

From the minute we know we’re expecting, our life changes. We are suddenly responsible for another human’s life. Regardless of whether we feel the daily pressure, it is real and it is there. The decisions we make impact the life of another person. Now, it’s not to say that taking a break means that we no longer have that responsibility, because, let’s face it, a break doesn’t mean leaving and the decisions we make still impact others. But not not have to make the daily decisions of daily life, just for a few days, is really nice. Everyone needs that break.

It’s hard

An important reason for me to take time away from my family is because it is hard. It is hard to let go, to not be in control, to have to make all the decisions, to be uncomfortable, to be silent, to be challenged. Doing things that are hard are good.

Does this resonate with you?