I love my child.  Like, capital L-O-V-E, love. But these days, taking care of a toddler whose greatest joy lies in testing his limits and throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get his way means that I appreciate my child-free time a little bit more than I once did.  We have spent several weekends away from Colin, both while we were out of town and when we did mini-“staycations,” and my-oh-my, every time we do a night of “staycation” I love them even more.  Here is why:

1)  Travel is stressful.  Even without a toddler in tow, airports just stress me out. When you add the time wasted schlepping to the airport, waiting, inevitable flight delays, etc., there is just something to be said for making the best of where you live. Getting a hotel room locally means you maximize your time doing things that are actually fun – aka not flying.

2) It costs so much less than a trip out of town. Saving money on things like flights and rental cars means that we can either splurge on a fancy restaurant we would otherwise not comfortably afford, or an experience we wouldn’t otherwise try.  Because we use credit card points to book hotels, the other option for us is just having the world’s cheapest weekend, cuddling in a free hotel room eating packed PB&J’s and snacks and doing uber movie marathons in bed like our pre-parenting days.

3) Unplugging from the day-to-day grind where you live allows you to appreciate it so much more. Whether you are in suburban sprawl, a big city or the country air, not only is there more to see and enjoy at your fingertips than you think, but rather than flying thousands of miles, often I have found that we can find exciting new things when stay nearby or even if we venture only 30-60 minutes away. On our Chicago staycations, we have tried great new restaurants that are far from kid-friendly, and we have lived as tourists in our own city – exploring museums, strolling through less familiar neighborhoods and hitting the beach – without a nap schedule to contend with.  Bliss.

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4) Grandma and Grandpa prefer having us out of the house. This one is probably not unique to the Confetti household. When the grandparents come to visit, Colin doesn’t always prefer spending time with them, especially when his dad is around.  They travel all this way for a visit, and when they are caring for him while we are away, they enjoy having all the attention and all the fun with C.  But…

5)  Heaven forbid something happens, we are not far away. Thankfully, we haven’t had to contend with any major issues, but if Colin were to get seriously ill or injure himself, we wouldn’t need to worry about medical authorization letters or talking through symptoms and treatments on the phone, switching between pediatrician and grandma. We would be just a short cab or car ride away.

6) Oh yeah, and the best perk?  When we staycation, it is easy to bring along our own pillows and get a great night of sleep, sleeping well past 5:45 a.m. and laying in bed as long as we want. Even if we leave after bedtime and get back home by 10 a.m., those couple extra hours make a HUGE difference.

Have you stay-cationed since becoming a parent?