Do you ever leave the kids at home?

My kiddos are 8 & 3, they're still in that stage where it's SUPER COOL to go camping. They'd rather go camping than anything else, except maybe going to a hotel with a waterpark... that trumps everything. We hooked the camper up this weekend to move it for winterizing, the kids got all excited that we were going out. Sorry sports, nope.

Mine would be crushed if we went camping without them. I'd say more than half the fun of going (for us) is hanging out with the kids. If dh and I went alone we'd probably just sit and stare at other campers. Heeeeey... now there's an idea. :B

For the past several years we send our kids to Camp. My wife and I then head for the beach for a week of alone time and I would strongly encourage you to do it without hesitation.

I'm sure our teenage boys couldn't wait for us to leave, especially after realizing we left the beer in the garage.

Wife and I didn't start camping without the kids until the last couple years, when the kids were old enough to be home alone. We didn't have relatives close enough to easily watch the kids for a weekend.

We have greatly enjoyed camping as a family. Patience is always required, plus the ability to find the good in everything, plus the willingness to change plans at the last minute. Having said that...

I absolutely LOVE camping with just my wife. We usually go for more rustic campgrounds without hookups, and plan fancier dinners - cleanup is certainly easier with just two people. We go for hikes (slower now with my aging knees) and/or short touristy trips to check out the area. It is fun and relaxing, and nice to know the wife is still willing to put up with just me for an entire weekend!

We just leave ours in the garage when we dont want to take them along and have someone come over twice a day and feed them.




Wait. Are we talking about 2 legged or four legged kids?

Francesca Knowles wrote:

TOOBOLD wrote:
As much as we enjoy camping as a family DH and I are wanting to go by ourselves without the kids (12,7). No, I don't plan on leaving them home alone, but with grandma. How many of you go alone? How much grief do you get from the kids for ditching them?

My Grandkids think their parents don't leave them with me often ENOUGH.

And I agree!

X2

I take our grandson with us everywhere we go or I don't have a good time. He puts a youthful perspective on everything we do and has good ideas himself about how to entertain us.

We are more than Happy to look after Our Grandkids! They still like Us and We Love Them!
The Parents deserve a break and We are pleased to be asked!

I can’t specifically remember doing that, but I’m sure we did. Most likely long weekends, knowing the DW she would get antsy if we left them for a full week. But I see nothing wrong with leaving them with grandma if she’s up to it and the kids loved staying with her.

We’ve been on both sides of the equation, too, My granddaughters practically lived with us and we took them on long cross country camping trips every year for many years. I think our DIL sometimes wished they didn’t like us so much.:)

Being a parent doesn't mean that you have to spend 24/7 with the kids. It also doesn't mean you have to stop being a couple. It's good for the kids to be away from you also. Go and have fun.