“I love coming to your apartment!” said our grandson Anderson, grinning as he punched in the code to open the door to the apartment we’ve rented for two weeks.
We used to stay with our son and his family when the kids were little — and there were fewer of them. But when there was no longer a bedroom for us at their house, we started staying at a VRBO rental place or a hotel.
Having our own place turned out to be a pleasant idea.
Advantages include …
- Time to rest — without guilt. We used to take rest breaks in the basement guest room but felt guilty hearing the activity of the house upstairs. Now with staying elsewhere, rest really is rest. Sure, driving away at the end of the day is hard, but it’s like ripping off a band-aid. We go back to our apartment or hotel and put up our feet. One glass of wine, please! We also love the joy of a quiet cup of morning coffee, just the two of us before another busy day begins. When we arrive at their home after a night in our rental, we are energized.
- We get precious one-on-one time. With their growing family, we never were able to create one-on-one time except in very small chunks. But with our rental apartment, each child gets one overnight at Gram and Grandpa’s during the visit. What fun! We pamper the visitor, cook their favorite items, play his or her favorite games, and best of all focus on him or her alone. The child basks in all the advantages of being an only grandchild during that time. “I just love it here!” Fiona will say every fifteen minutes. (When Sebastian was too little for an overnight stay, we would host him alone during the day at our apartment, so the Big Kids can do an activity or outing with their parents.)
- Our son and his wife have a getaway place. While we are at their house with the grands, sometimes our son and daughter-in-law go over to our apartment for a peaceful getaway place, even for a quiet afternoon. That was our idea and they love it!
- We feel more like “in-town” grandparents! We can do things like baking brownies in the evening at our apartment to surprise the kids the next day … having our daughter-in-law drop the kids at our apartment, at our request, so she can have coffee with a girlfriend … decorating our place (dollar store bargains) for a St. Patrick’s Day Party for the grandkids.
Disadvantages of staying elsewhere …
- The cost. We have found that nothing about the Pacific Northwest is cheap. Many grandparents also feel a greater need to rent a car if they’re staying away from the house.
- It takes advanced planning. In most cases, booking a rental must be done far in advance. That hinders your spontaneity. (Tip: when we make last-minute plans, we book at a hotel. We have found an “extended stay” hotel has better rates than a regular hotel.
- You can’t always get the same place for every visit. Sometimes you get used to a certain rental place, and then the owner sells it or stops renting it. In the last four years, we have rented probably a total of six different places.
- You do miss out on some happenings at their house.
I love to share my tips! To see a bunch of my articles on the happy time of traveling to the grandparents, just click on this link: Grandparents Visiting.
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