vacationizing

What I'm learning this trip, so far (or how to vacation with little ones and not completely lose your shit):

1. Plan only one thing every day.
2. Be willing to throw that plan out the window at a moment's notice.
3. Pay attention to what your kids are having fun doing. Do more of that.
4. It's okay to eat gelato before dinner, stay up late, and go swimming in the hotel pool at 9 o' clock at night.
5. Actually, it's practically mandatory.
6. Little kids don't want to hear about the history of Harvard Yard. They want to play hide-and-go-seek in Harvard Yard. Let them.
7. It's more fun if you play too.
8. The azalea bush by the Widener Library steps is a great hiding place.
9. Let them carry their own load. Give them backpacks with toys, disposable cameras, coloring books, and magic markers in them.
10. Slow down.

My kids have more fun riding the T than riding the sightseeing trolley. They prefer a $3 carousel ride in the park to a $25 Harbor Cruise. They're perfectly content to just sit by the edge of a fountain in Copley Square and splash with their feet for an hour.

The point is, of course, they're getting some time away from the ordinary, and they're getting precious long stretches of time with me.

This vacation is killing me, but it's worth it.