Grasshopper New Media Presents...

My husband and I took our children to the Smoky Mountains last week. It was a family vacation, our first one that was just the four of us, and I declared it a VEGETABLE-FREE, EDUCATION-FREE, FUN ONLY time. Of course, I didn’t actually say that to my children or my husband, I just whispered it to myself in my head to take the pressure off. And, of course, it wasn’t actually education-free like I had hoped. I taught us all quite a few things!

The first lesson I taught to my daughter. It goes like this: If you’re mother is smart enough to put the sunscreen in the car before heading out for a day of fun at an outdoor amusement park, but dumb enough to forget to actually put the sunscreen on you, you will spend the following day doing indoor activities. And also whining about the sunburn on your cheeks.

The second lesson I taught was to my son. I won’t go in to many details (trust me, you don’t want to know), but the basic lesson is this: If you have your very own bathroom during the duration of the vacation, you should still flush the toilet even if mom and dad will never know. Because they will eventually know. OH YES, THEY WILL.

The third lesson was for my husband. It was a pretty short lesson, but it involved quite a bit of screeching and shrieking. It goes like this: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? That windy, twisty, narrow mountain road is UP THERE! We are no longer on THE ROAD! You have just driven your FAMILY off of a CLIFF! The moral of that little lesson is to always let your wife drive OR just drive a bit slower than normal. Those mountain roads are treacherous. (We were all fine, it was just a LITTLE cliff and we were able to drive right back up it. So maybe more of a hill? Feel free to hyperventilate at the memory with me, though.)

And the fourth and final lesson was for me. Just because I am a homeschooling mother who has taken her family on a vacation to the gorgeous Smoky Mountains and there are millions of educational opportunities available, just chill out. Really. Letting go and having fun is a lesson in and of itself. Also, pretend the vacation is a science experiment and see how long your little family of four can last without eating even ONE vegetable! Bet the answer is longer than you’d think!

Hope you all enjoy your summer vacations the same way I enjoyed mine.

by Karly Campbell

Photo graciously provided by Arkansas ShutterBug, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved