Welcome to the March blog for Creekside kids! We’re thinking about staycationing in Colorado Springs. How do you plan a spring break locally that your kids will enjoy and appreciate later on?

There are many wonderful activities around Colorado Springs if you want to have a great time and still stay within a short drive of home. Rather than suggest a selection of places to spend your time adventuring, I’d like to present you with five guidelines for sharing your spring break with your kids:

1. Don’t over plan the day. There may be a brilliant opportunity to see something unique or do something you remember doing as a child, and that may inspire you to cram in a lot of “significant moments” for your kids. But if you push your kids from event to event, they will want to escape. Keep it easy, breezy, simple, with events planned around the things they need in their schedule, like food, potty breaks, and naps.
2. Plan for naps. Naps are essential when doing things they might find exciting or stimulating! They need the rest, and they need to come out of that rest knowing that everything is still okay for them. 
3. Expect meltdowns. If you are taking your kids out of their routine for something special, they may throw some pretty epic tantrums. The excitement and new things can bring out the worst in them because they aren’t their adult selves yet. They’re too young to appreciate the experience as finite and repeatable. Remember that they are each their own little bucket of neurosis and id. They may have a great time and then see a sibling have a great time and feel cheated somehow. Don’t take it personally if they become unreasonable. Remember that new things are difficult for them to process, and they may need more time and assurance from you.
4. Always have snacks. Activities and significant walking distances require snacks! Be sure to keep them on hand, and for yourself, too. You’re only human, and you need the energy, also.
5. Don’t forget to look after yourself. I recently took a trip back east to see my family, and on the airplane, the flight attendants went through their safety precautions. They noted that in the awful event that the cabin pressure drops in an aircraft and the oxygen masks fall, you should put your mask on first before helping someone else put their own on. You don’t need food and rest as much as your kids do, but you still need them. Always remember that self-care is also a part of organizing a great experience.

We hope your Spring Break is a great time with your kids. Things will not go according to plan, but you may just have a good time that they will remember for years between the struggles of parenting.