When my oldest left for college years ago, it hit me that we hadn’t done all of the things I had hoped we would do together I while he was still living at home. Lost opportunities, you could call it. I resolved to do better with my younger ones still at home!
I made a sort of “bucket list” of things I would like to do with my kids before they left home for good: movies I really wanted to watch with them, places I wanted to go with them, experiences I wanted to make sure we all had together, restaurants we just had to visit, plays they had to see, etc. etc. The list sort of evolved and changed over the years, and some things on the list were clunkers (some of those old movies really ARE kind of dated and boring by today’s standards!) but it always made me feel great when we did something as a family that was on my list, and that everyone really enjoyed.
My youngest will be leaving for college shortly, and, sadly, there are still many items on my bucket list that we just didn’t get a chance to do together. I’m hoping there will still be some opportunities to do some of these things as a family, but as the years go by, the times when we are all together in the same place are growing few and far between.
Do you have a “bucket list” like this? What’s on your list?
My kids are all now in college, but I do hope we can continue to enjoy traveling together for many years. Of course it helps when the parents are paying the bill.
Will have to think about this, but nothing is coming to mind at the moment. I always wanted to travel with my kids, and we’ve done quite a bit of that. In fact our trips are probably some of our best memories.
My oldest is about to move out and it will hit me hard, I know. There’s probably never truly enough time for everything.
We traveled a lot overseas when kids were growing up. I always wanted to do a trip with them to Grand Canyon and Yellow Stone. Maybe I will do it with my grandchildren some day.
We never had any list per se, but have done a lot of family things that we all enjoyed. Some of them include a 3 week road trip together after S graduated from college (we had hoped to go to Europe but switched to a road trip after the Icelandic volcano eruption). We went to a lot of NW and western national parks and crabbed with my aunt in her fishing boat on a river. We also went to Rushmore, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, as well as a lot of the SW and Western US national parks, including several visits to the Grand Canyon. We also have been to DC, Williamsburg, Niagra Falls, Princeville, NYC, St. Louis, San Diego, SF, LA, and most recently the SF Opera with aunt and my folks.
I’d like to go to Europe with them, but am not sure how the scheduling will work. It would be fun, but that’s still a big question mark. H and I never went to Europe until I had young children.
@oldfort – you don’t need to wait for grandchildren to visit the Grand Canyon! We went last year when the boys were 15 & 17. It is an amazing place to visit, assuming your daughters would enjoy spending the day hiking. We are not serious hikers but can happily cover miles in a day, wearing running shoes.
You have to fly into either Phoenix or Vegas and drive four hours so perhaps you could entice them with a resort stay in Scottsdale at one end of the trip and then a stop in Vegas on the other end, if that appeals. El Tovar is a nice property overlooking the canyon. You need to book a year in advance or get lucky with a cancellation, as we did, but it is completely worth it to be able to enjoy the canyon at night and as the sun sets and rises. Breathtaking.
I knew Happykid would probably start to have summer jobs during high school, so that was in the back of my mind as we worked our way through the list of longer summer trips that Happydad wanted to make. Finished them all right on schedule.
Getting caught in a thunderstorm at the Grand Canyon was not on my bucket list, but it happened, during our stop there en route to dropping D1 off at college six years ago. It was very memorable, even though quite frightening at the time.
Just this past month when D1 & SIL visited we went to the cafe Hunter S Thompson frequented and D2 & H went to Mesa Verde NP ( nice hotel rustic rooms in the park) .Both were past few years missed opportunities. I need to start making more lists in my head.
Since you called it a " Parents " bucket list and not a family bucket list, I would have to say a marriage and/or a grandchild. They don’t have to happen together. None of my three twenty something, not far from 30, have either.
Just visited Yellowstone a week ago, partly because D1 visited the park a few years ago and renewed my interest. So, in a way we visited together.
When mine were in college we did a great number of things together. It was a good time. D and I did visit Yellowstone, and camped in September. Great time of year! What keeps these things going is some sort of tradition of family vacations together, which more years than not does not work, but occasionally the stars align. My funds are limited, so for us it means camping, but I find that to be a bonding experience regardless, as we all enjoy being outside together.
We have a tradition of seeing plays as well, at least at our area outdoor venue.
There are regrets though, skills not learned, and far more shared activities than time will ever allow.
Definitely “parenting” a grand child. I have these fantasies of teaching my grandchild to ski. Of picking wild strawberries together. Of reading him/her bedtime stories. Of calling DH “grandpa”.
Sadly, neither child is cooperating with making my fantasies come true
We were trying to to visit all 50 states together. We had a map with stickers on our camper. We visited about 2/3 of the state’s by middle school then had limited vacations during high school because of their work and classes. Both sins are in college now, so I’m not sure we can finish this goal.
My “hope” bucket list includes continuing to try and meet up somewhere to ski together and trying to get together in the summer for a great beach day or two or three in Michigan.
ok parenting bucket list. Since we will soon be retired, we visit them several times a year as I hope they will be busy working and take their vacation days with no obligation to visit us. Plan to get to know their lives and the ones they love.
Like others here, being a grandmother someday is at the top of my list. Of course, that isn’t really up to me. I do hope that if it ever happens, it happens when I’m still young enough to participate fully in my grandchild’s life. But I’m afraid that it’s going to be a long time, if ever, before my son is in that frame of mind.
