My friend has a baby that is almost a year old. Her older child will be going to kindergarten in the fall. I said to her, “Can you believe how fast the first year of your baby’s life went, and that your oldest child is going to be 5?” We then discussed how weird it is to think back to when our children were born, and how we thought at the time, that we had so much time to prepare for their kindergarten and school years. When, in fact, now looking back, it really wasn’t that long at all.

If those years came and went that quickly, I can only assume that the rest of my children’s grade school years will fly by. My husband and I like to think about what’s ahead and the decisions we will be making and how we will feel about certain issues. For example, when will we allow our children to date, at what age do we give our kids some intro driving lessons in a vacant parking lot, and the great debate…will we let our kids go on a spring break trip.

My son is in first grade. It will be a “short” 11 years before he heads out on his senior spring break trip. I am not certain if the high school and college Spring Break trips have changed as much as I think they have, or if the media is just doing a fantastic job of blowing things out of proportion.  Regardless, I would feel much better if my son decided not to hop on a plane with his friends, but rather to take a family vacation some where. This is difficult for me since not only did I take my own senior spring break trip (which I survived, for the most part), but I am also battling my husband who feels that it is ok for our son (whom we will raise to be responsible and mature) to take part in this rite of passage.

But, now that I am older and a parent, I fear and worry more than I did when I was an invincible, carefree teen. I dread that even with maturity and great decision making skills, things can go wrong during Spring Break. It looks like my husband and I will be having one doozy of a discussion come Spring of 2020.

Needless to say, I am hanging on to those short 11 years, hoping that maybe when he is in high school, there will no longer be such a thing as spring break. Or, maybe the airlines will decide that those under 21 years old must travel with a parent. Or, maybe the school will hold its own mandatory school-wide spring break lock-in.  

Or, maybe I am just out of my mind.

Maybe I need to stop worrying, and start preparing. I can raise my child with confident decision making skills, and I can give him options for his spring break trip, all of which include safe destinations. He will be equipped with a cell phone, and several contact numbers, and I will reassure him that he can always call if he needs help, no questions asked. Additionally, a rep for Verizon wireless informed me that travelers can identify emergency contacts in their cell phones. Commonly referred to as ICE under contact lists in many wireless handsets, the “In Case of Emergency” contact gives emergency personnel an immediate contact in the event you are unable to place your own call to relatives or others.

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