Make Hometown Visits Fun for the Whole Family

Going home to visit family or friends is great when it’s just you or your partner, but what if you are the only one with kids? Visiting family or friends can be stressful when you have kids, especially when they don’t have small children in the house or aren’t used to having small children in the house. We found a way to make hometown visits fun for the whole family.

For many years we would make the car trip back home to visit family and friends. It was a long trip but we did it to stay connected to those we loved. However, most of the time we were traveling around visiting people that weren’t used to having kids in the home.

Items were left out that were enticing to little hands to explore. I felt overly stressed and such a mean mother getting after my kids constantly during that visit. After all, would you want to just sit and color after spending hours in a vehicle?

After a few short days of repeating this, both the kids and I were ready to head home. It wasn’t a fun vacation. There had to be a way that we could let the kids have fun and still get to visit a little with family and friends.

New Direction

The next trip home was planned much differently. We did very little visiting at other people’s homes. The only exceptions were Grandparents or Great Aunts that weren’t as mobile. Everyone else was asked to join us for some fun.

We gave people advanced notice so that they could add us to their schedule, and we planned daily activities that the kids would enjoy. We would then meet them at the location and let the kids have fun while we had a visit.

Over the years we have done mini-golf, corn mazes, go-carts, children’s museums, swimming, hiking, and camping cookouts. Family and friends that wanted to see us, took the time to join in the fun too. They understood our desire to make hometown visits fun for the whole family. The best part of this plan was being able to visit family that couldn’t travel to us and let the kids experience a bit of home.

How will you make your next visit to family fun for yours?