Mother and Child Reunion - by Cara

There seems to be somewhat of an epidemic going on. And I love it!

Even before Robin took her son on a “Mommy and Son” vacation - just the two of them - I had been mulling over taking my own son, by myself, on a vacation at the end of this summer. Since Robin took her trip, I’ve learned that there are quite a few parents following this trend!

The very first Mom I heard of doing this was a friend who’s son was 5.

They went to Hawaii, of all places, last summer! My friend had just gotten laid off from her job, her son was off from school, and her husband stayed home to manage construction that would have had to have been delayed until the Fall, had no one been home during this time.

This friend and her son had a blast!! They went for 2 weeks, last July, and uploaded all of the exciting places they visited and things they did onto Facebook via my friend’s laptop! All of the Facebook friends were so jealous!! But her trip got me thinking. My husband could certainly use a vacation, I would have loved to get away, and my son would have had the time of his life, no matter where we went!

Well, plans were never made. Tension between my husband and I was mounting. And our son was going through a lot of testing over the summer for various learning issues. A vacation was just not meant to come to fruition last year.

Then, during the winter, my son saw a commercial for the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas! We had gone on a cruise a couple years ago and the Bahamas was one of the ports we visited. Spending a day at the beautiful Atlantis Resort was one of the excursions we chose to go on. My husband and son wanted to “swim with the dolphins,” so while they interacted with the dolphins, I took pictures!

This resort was so wonderful! It is upscale, but child-friendly, with such an assortment of things to do! This got me thinking again. Maybe for the week between summer camp ending and school starting, I could take my son to this resort!! I haven’t made plans yet, because I am actually going there by myself in a few weeks. But I plan on checking out the resort for all types of kid-friendly things to do! If it looks as kid-friendly as it seems, this may be our “Mommy and Son” destination stop! However, I digress.

Next, Robin went with her son to Asheville and loved it so much she wishes she were there right now! Her description on her blog sounded so exciting! I wanted to go there myself! And she said she bonded with her son so much while they were away, as did my friend who went to Hawaii! I really want that experience with my son too!

Now, just a few days ago, I learned that another friend is taking her 7 year old daughter to 5 days at Disney in Orlando, once school ends in June. Then they will follow that up with 5 days on a Disney Cruise!!

Wow!! Now I am investigating the Disney cruise as a possibility because my son adored going on the 2 cruises we went on when we were a family, and he adores the Disney characters!! So that is another potentiality!

I also listen to a parenting podcast where one of the co-hosts took her eldest son (age 7) to Florida to visit relatives and (of course) visit Disney. And when I injured my rib a couple weeks ago, my female doctor said that she took her son (who I understand, loves to ski!) on a trip, somewhere out west, during Spring Recess, to go skiing! Just the two of them! And she raved about the bond that was created between she and her son, even more than the skiing itself!

So I am making plans for my son and I to go somewhere fun, exciting, and a place where we can make our own memories and bond like crazy!! After this immensely difficult year, I think we both need to get away and have fun! Most importantly, I want my son to know how important these experiences are, and I want him to look back in years to come and have warm memories of our Mommy and Me” time spent together! You can bet that I certainly will!!