We are used to traveling with our young kids; but when we were invited to a South Asian destination wedding, we figured the logistics would be challenging to bring the kids along.

When we travel with just our family, we stick to a flexible schedule, and we did not want this to take away from the wedding experience if we were frantically trying to get our kids food and naps at certain times. Additionally, there is so much research out there that supports time for parents to form memories apart from the kids – so we thought, let’s drop the kids off with their grandparents! Because of this we were able to be present at the wedding, and also take advantage of free time to snorkel and eat at non-child-friendly places.

My mom is very familiar with my kids and their routine, but I still wrote out ‘guidelines’ for them to refer to. TBD if they actually used them, but for the sake of peace of mind, it helps to write notes in an easy-to-read format for the babysitters! Here are my suggestions on content for caregivers:

• Timings of meals and naps
• Allergy Information (i.e. what are they allergic to and any medicine to use in emergency)
• Essential rules (i.e., allowed activities or screen time limits)
• Discipline strategies (i.e., what time-out looks like for your fam)
• Routines of the kids (i.e., bedtimes, mealtimes)
• Key phrases (i.e., certain words your kids say that other people might not understand)

All in all, feeling comfortable enough with my parents and their ability to watch the kids, was a huge consideration when we decided to leave them – and it was absolutely worth it!