The Power Of A Simple Summer
Photo by Klara Kulikova on Unsplash
It’s vacation season! Maybe you, like me, can’t help but peek at what everyone online is up to… and where they’re going.
We have somehow internalized the idea that for our kids to have happy childhoods, they need to go on elaborate trips. We probably already know that trying to keep up with the Joneses is only going to lead to discontentment. Still, it is always tempting to compare ourselves to other families and try to keep up, or fall into mom guilt when we can’t.
One reason that big vacations can feel so important is due to the traditions they create. Going to the same beach house or cabin becomes nostalgic. The emotional attachment and familiarity that comes from visiting the same place establishes memories that can last a lifetime. Such memories are blessings, but traditions are not something that we can only establish through traveling far away and spending lots of money.
Sometimes it’s easy to think about “minor” experiences like annual trips to the berry patch or bi-yearly staycations at the local motel as settling for not doing something more extravagant, but repetition is powerful. Our kids are going to be impacted by the things we regularly do to prioritize family time, even if those things don’t involve plane tickets and resort reservations. Bike rides count, so do those visits to the library or the picnics by the creek.
A conversation about doing vacations small and meaningfully can easily overlap into a conversation about doing our entire lives the same way. We could talk about the same sort of temptations to buy a bigger house or nicer vehicle. Our children can fall into this too, but often they are the ones to remind me of the value of smallness.
My kids seem to gravitate toward the small and snug. At our home, my oldest created her own reading area and had a season of spending ample time in it. Now, we already had a plush armchair with a light hanging over it that overlooks our open floor concept home. But instead, she chose the itty-bitty space in which she was wedged between the back of our couch and the windows. She brought her yoga mat back there and spent hours reading in a space she could not even roll over in.
The other kids were more than jealous of this reading nook. Even if we had an elaborate reading room, maybe something like bay windows with built-in benches and floor-to-ceiling bookcases, I think she’d still have gotten behind the couch because she liked to be close to the rest of the family while still having a little privacy.
I have come to view that spot behind our couch as a microcosm of sorts. For me, it represents the way that smallness and simplicity can be life-giving. It frees us from high expectations and expenses and allows us to revel in the blessings that are right in front of us.
Children’s natural fascination with small things may be because they themselves are small, but I think it’s also because it makes them feel safe. This is why we should not beat ourselves up about not doing elaborate activities or taking extravagant vacations. Children naturally find the charm in simplicity, and it’s something we can learn from them.
If you are financially and emotionally able to plan and take a big vacation each year and still prioritize meaningful experiences throughout the year, then my message may not be for you. But if you are not, I’m going to go the road-less-traveled route and encourage you, and remind myself, that our definition of a vacation does not need to be influenced by Instagram.
It doesn’t need to be measured in miles. It’s really about the time we spend together, not where we spend it, and the frequency in which we allow those experiences to happen. We can teach our children to value simplicity, be curious about nearby places, and enjoy being together regardless of where we find ourselves.
