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It's Couple Time
Planning a Vacation Without the Kids
By Sue Marquette Poremba
My sister-in-law was getting married, 1,500 miles away, and we scheduled our summer vacation around the big event. We dropped the dog off at the kennel, packed up the car and drove four hours to my mother-in-law's house, where we dropped off our two kids, and my husband and I drove to the wedding. The kids flew with their grandparents and other relatives, while my husband and I had a chance for two mini-vacations without the kids. We had two days at a Cheyenne resort before the kids arrived. When they left for home, we had three days to wind around the country on our way back home.
We've been taking vacations without the kids ever since.
Deciding you need a child-free vacation is the easy part. Putting one together can be a logistical nightmare. Who will be with the kids? Do you bring someone to your house, or do you take them to stay at Grandma's? When do you take the trip? How long should you go?
Perhaps the toughest part of planning a few days away is figuring out who will watch the children while you are gone. Some couples are lucky, like Bill and Emily Johnson of Los Alamos, N.M., who have relatives nearby, eager and able to watch their two sons. The rest of us, however, need to be creative about extended childcare.