When I told some friends of our first family vacation, those friends were quick to point out that if parents are traveling with young kids, one does not call it a vacation, one calls it a trip.

With that said, our family of four took our very first family trip together on May 31st. We went to Nashville to visit my husband’s best friend from high school and college. This friend has a son who is two months younger than our oldest daughter, so we were able to stay with them and our kiddos got lots, and lots of play (and conflict resolution) time together. It was pretty incredible. Sidenote: from what I can tell, people in the U.S. don’t do a great job of utilizing friends and families to stay with. I’m not sure if it’s because we don’t want to impose? But it’s a really great way to save money and get to spend some wonderful quality time with people you care about but don’t get to see very often. More on that in another post though . . . back to our Nashville excursion!

We were super nervous about the airport and flying portion, so we made sure to stock up on lots of new toys, shows on the iPad and various activities to do with our wildcard of a toddler. To our great surprise, both she and our 8 month old did great. We didn’t even bring out any of the new toys until the plane ride home, and we learned that having lots of exciting food on hand was more important than having exciting shows.

Aside from the plane ride, we really weren’t sure what to expect from this trip. The only thing on our “to-do list” was to visit the zoo. Oh, and to get some local BBQ. Other than that, we were open to whatever. Upon our return, when people asked how Nashville was, my honest answer was that I got a very real impression of what it would be like to live there. We went to parks instead of bars. We went to restaurants that were kid friendly. We went to a splash park that was free. Though we didn’t get the tourist glimpse of Nashville that most people expect, it honestly seemed like a great place to live and raise a family. Of all the things we did and saw while in Nashville, there is one memory that stands out and I want to make sure to record.

The two families were out downtown at a trendy and delicious restaurant called Martin’s BBQ. The kiddos were behaving well and our 8 month old was voraciously devouring all the meat she could get her hands on. Including a huge rib that she got hold of. It was amazing. But even more amazing was a major #parenting-fail that happened in the bathroom.

Our oldest daughter, Jojo, is 2 1/2 and recently potty trained. She is very proud of herself and likes to practice her new skill frequently. On our third trip to the bathroom, she had finished wiping and we were working on getting her undies and shorts up. Unfortunately, they were caught on her sandals so her pants were on the dirty floor and she was stepping all over them. I was annoyed because bathroom floors are disgusting, so under my breath I said, “son of a bitch.” She then followed up by yelling at the top of her lungs, “FUCKING PANTS!” I was gobsmacked. I tried not to laugh, even though I could hear the ladies in the other stalls laughing out loud. And yes, in case you were wondering, the bathroom was very full. Once I composed myself a little I stupidly then asked her, “what kind of pants did you say?” And she replied very honestly by yelling just as loudly as before, “FUCKING!” I was dying; both from being mortified and from trying not to fall onto the disgusting floor laughing. Needless to say, we took our time getting out of the stall. I tried to tell her calmly and sternly that we don’t say that word. The craziest part is, she has only said that word a handful of other times. I wish I could say that neither her dad nor I swear in front of her. Unfortunately, sometimes it just comes out. We’re getting better, but nobody’s perfect dammit.

Anyway, we got back to the table and I shared our delightful story with everyone. I’m not sure if it’s remembering the laughter, or just being able to picture how happy we all were that night that stands out in my mind. It probably wasn’t the best memory from the trip – there were so many great moments. But it certainly was one of them, and it is a snapshot of where we are right now in our lives. We aren’t perfect parents. We don’t have perfect kids. We stay with friends rather than in a hotel because it’s what we can afford. But we try our hardest to be great parents; or at the very least to be loving and present. And we have great kids; even when one kid is busy getting her mouth all dirty and the other is expressing herself using her dirty mouth.

That evening was full of love, and that trip was full of love, and that’s what made it so great.