If you have small children and you've tried planning a trip you may have heard the phrase "why bother? They're not going to remember it anyways"
This phase and thought process is so damaging and far from the truth! They may not remember this trip in detail 20 years from now but they will remember it 6 months, 1 year maybe even 5 years from now! Plus they will benefit in so many ways from traveling and experiencing the world at such a young age. They'll be exposed to other cultures, foods, and languages at an early age. Making them more well rounded and exposed to other cultures. Traveling can make them more adaptable to different environments and situations too. They'll learn through experiencing the world first hand. More importantly you'll build stronger family bonds.
We took our daughter to Walt Disney World when she was 1 year and 4 months old. She had a blast!! After almost a year we'll go through photos and videos we took on our trip and it is obvious from the look on her face that she remembers her time there, or at least the feelings she had from being there. When planning our trip we had a few people criticize us for wanting to take her telling us it would be a waste of our money, she's too young to remember, or to wait a few years when she can actually enjoy it.
With that line of reasoning why do anything with our little ones? Why take them to the park? Out for ice cream? Play fun games at home? Give them presents for holidays or birthdays? I mean..... they won't remember it right? So it shouldn't matter. BUT IT DOES! We do it to make them feel loved, to see the looks of joy on their little faces when they experience something for the first time, or when they receive something they enjoy or wanted. We know they won't remember it all but in that moment it matters.
WE REMEMBER! Just because our little ones may not remember the experience doesn't mean we forget it too. Our trip to Walt Disney World is one we will remember for the rest of our lives. Seeing the look of pure joy on her little face when she met Anna and Elsa was one of the highlights of our trip. Sure traveling with littles can be a bit stressful, but isn't parenthood one big ball of stress? I don't know about you but I'd much rather be stressed getting to a beach with a margarita in my hand, than home wrangling a toddler who is trying to convince you that fruit snacks should be served for lunch. Alas, if you're worried about the stress there are tons of ways to alleviate some of it to make it a much more enjoyable experience (a future blog).
So, if you're debating on booking a trip solely because of comments like this, I say go for it! Book that trip. You'll create memories that you can look back on and tell them all about the things they can't remember.
