{"id":321,"date":"2019-01-15T04:20:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T04:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joshfrom.nz\/?p=321"},"modified":"2019-03-31T22:43:35","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T22:43:35","slug":"holiday-memories-that-last-a-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshfrom.nz\/index.php\/2019\/01\/15\/holiday-memories-that-last-a-lifetime\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Memories That Last a Lifetime\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We had been on the road for 5 hours, and the kids were starting to lose it. It was the last day of a 7-day holiday around the North Island. We only had one more hour of driving to get home, but we decided to stop at a park and let them burn off some steam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My wife says, \u201cBoys are like dogs. You\u2019ve gotta keep them fed and run them twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we were walking over, I put my arm on my 6-year-old\u2019s shoulder; I looked down and said, \u201cJacob, I love you so much,\u201d He replied, \u201cNo, no, no, Dad, I love YOU soooo much,\u201d as he flashed me the cutest grin and gave me a big hug. It was only 2 minutes of the entire day after plenty of moments of stress, but at that moment, nothing else in the world mattered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the kids were playing, I was reminded of my childhood holidays. I thought about how I was once that little boy walking alongside my Dad. I wondered about what he was thinking at the time. I wondered if he knew those holiday moments with him would become lifetime memories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dad often says he wishes we could have done more as a family or that he always felt stressed, but talking to my sisters, that\u2019s not how we remember our family holidays. They were fun-filled adventures. The van packed to the brim with stuff, songs recorded on cassette tapes, the same rest stops stopped at every year, and fun adventures when we finally arrived at our destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It made me think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I decided to share my childhood memories as a way of thanking my parents for our wonderful family holidays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though money was tight, my parents always made an effort to take my sisters and I away when we were growing up. Mum would put away $5 or $10 a week throughout the year to make it happen. Dad worked at NZ Post and had access to the holiday houses, so we would usually end up somewhere on the north island like Taupo, Napier, or Rotorua. Later on, we started going to a holiday camp in Matamata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am sure there was plenty of stress on these holidays \u2013 times where Mum and Dad were just trying to make it through the day. I know they sometimes wished we could do more \u201cactivities\u201d and tourist stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I talk with my sisters, the memories that stick out the most are not flashy and expensive but the things we did together. The things I remember the most include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked my sisters what they loved, Michelle said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Mel said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I talk with my sisters, I feel like the key theme was that, as kids, we loved being together on these family holidays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a parent, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in the stress of \u201cgetting through\u201d the experience. In the future, your child won\u2019t remember the journey and stress, but the small moments of time you spent together. Stop and enjoy these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As mentioned before: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe Jacob will remember the park or maybe not, but the 2-minute walk holding his hand made it all worth it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What fond, yet simple memories, do you have of a past experience with someone you love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comment below, and I encourage you to send them a text or email to say what you remember and how much you appreciate it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n