The stress of going on vacation

With how much stress I go through preparing for a vacation I start to wonder if it’s worth it.

Of course, it always is in the end, but at the time it can be overwhelming. Once again, I find myself stressing before a vacation. This time I think I am stressing out even more than normal because the family trip involves flying: something my 9-year-old son, Matthew, and my 7-year-old son, John, have never experienced before.

I am not the biggest fan of flying. I get motion sickness easily and by the end of the day, I feel terrible. However, I’ll have to put on my big “mama bear” face and forge on to keep my children at ease.

All of this just adds even more stress to my plate. I carefully plan what items are packed where. For example: I need to make sure they have enough to not only keep them entertained while on the flight, but during the layovers. This complicates things a bit when I’ve decided they must carry their own backpacks, which means they can only pack what they can carry.

My youngest has already made a mistake by picking the smallest backpack he owns. I’m trying to figure out how he’s going to get a Leap Pad, a couple of workbooks, headphones, crayons and pencils in it and anything else he thinks is necessary for the trip. My oldest hasn’t even thought about what backpack he’s going to use and so at some point I will have to step in and just pick one for him.

Then comes the whole process of checking booster seats, I’ve never had to do it before. Some of my friends have and they have given me mixed reviews of the process. Some say it’s as easy as checking luggage, while others have had problems. Who am I to believe?

The other stressor is making sure all the electronic devices are charged. I’ve discovered this is a multi-day process if I want to properly pack all the chargers for the trip.

I also must decide what to pack for not only myself, but my two sons. We are traveling to somewhere warm and since we haven’t had warm weather here, I’m not even sure what fits them and what doesn’t. This leads to me insisting on the kids trying on last year’s summer clothes and they grunt and make comments the whole time. After checking the shorts situation out, I realize they need new shorts. We head to the store and buy some, which I then wash.

Then comes all the additional and unpredictable stressors, such as last-minute doctor’s appointments to refill prescriptions and orthodontist appointments scheduled prior to knowing about the trip.

Other things that popped up this time included, an unscheduled meeting, an oil change for the car and two vehicle registrations that needed to be paid for. I also discovered after buying one set of headphones, that the other set was broken too. Another trip was made to the store. It’s all of these last-minute unexpected stressors that put my anxiety levels to an all-time high.

Maybe all of these things coming at me at once help me truly appreciate the vacation even more, but maybe once, just once, it would be nice to pack and go without all the additional work to do before the trip.