Why travel with a young child?

Critics of us traveling with my little one will often say, “Why do you travel with your son? He won’t even remember it."

They are right. My son won’t remember going to Hawaii, won’t remember going to Paris or Italy or London. My son can’t even remember that he has ever played in the snow! BUT, I believe that my son will remember and will have memories of something more.

I am a big believer of developmental psychology and theories about our subconscious/unconsciousness. Developmental researchers believe that 95% of what we know/learn is obtained by the time we are 5 years old. I was skeptical when the developmental specialist told me this. How can the average person live 77 years and learn 95% of what he or she needs to know by the age of 5? Seems like very disproportionate learning. However, if you have ever been around a child who is under 1 year old, you will notice that most of his or her days involve sleeping, eating and OBSERVING. Yes, observing, they are trying to get a sense of what this world is all about. This explains why by the time we are 5 years old, we already know most of what he need to know about life. We have learned whether the world is safe, or not. We have learned whether we can trust those who are responsible for our well being, or not. We have learned what we need to know about survival in this world. Moreover, these worldviews that we develop at an early age will become part of who we are and later manifest in us. I have been around people with distorted world views that have no concept of how they became so distorted. But when you dig into their past, it’s no wonder why they think the way they do. Unfortunately, many of us live our lives without knowing what has made us the way we are.

So what will my son learn from traveling with us? For one, he will learn that no matter where in the world we are, he can feel safe and he can trust that I will be there for him. I will do anything in my power to make sure of that. I hope to teach him that we are a family and that family members sometimes have to sacrifice their individual desires for their family. I hope he learns that happiness and joy comes at a cost- whether that be sitting in a plane for 4 hours or waiting in line to get on a ride. He will learn about teamwork. What better way to teach my son about working with others than to show him how his mom and dad worked together while traveling. My husband carried the luggage while I waited in line at the airport. My husband took a nap on the plane while I played with our son on our trip to New Orleans. My husband took our son out for breakfast while I showered when we were in Italy. I will also show my son that yes, I could have left him at home with his grandma (it would have been “easier” and more affordable) but I didn’t. We chose adventure, novelty and we were able to see the world through our son's eyes. As Robert Frost says in his famous poem,"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

What do you hope to teach your children through your decisions and actions?