Creatures of habit

I always thought my kids traveled well. Alex's first plane trip was at 4 months and it was across a sea and a ocean. Before his second birthday he had made four trips across the Atlantic and slept in every kind of crib, bed and hotel that I could imagine for a young kid. Anna also had her share of traveling and camping out in various places. But our last trip to Texas, proved that my kids might be more creatures of habit than I thought.

While my kids do pretty well on airplanes (Alex even knows when to throw his bag on the security conveyor belt and when to take off his shoes), their adjustment to new places to stay needs some work. I'm not sure if I expect too much or if my kids just 'want what they want,' as Alex would say.

For four days, my son moaned about missing everything from his Clifford dog (a stuffed toy) to his Legos. Is it possible for an almost-four-year old to be homesick. To make the whining of missing home even worse, the kids decided sleep was not a top priority. Either the room was too light or too cold or too hot or too noisy, whatever the reason they would wake up early or not take a good naps. This can begin to spiral after a few days.

When we walked in the door from our vacation, the kids were overjoyed to be with all their toys. Both slept late the next morning and went right back to their routine.

I'm not sure who enjoys the routines more--them or me.