This video is for all the abuse survivors who lost their ability to make choices or do things they enjoy. Who forgot who they are. For the people pleasers who’ve spent their lives making other people happy at the expense of their own happiness. For the ones society has convinced they have to live a certain way and anything outside that is selfish, wrong, or weird. Whatever it is for you, do it. Do it for you. #travelmom #singlemom #healingjourney #dvsurvivor #travelwithkids #singlemomtravel #dowhatmakesyouhappy

This is always important but on single parent vacation it can be TOUGH. You’re together 24/7. No one is coming to get them a bath or do some dishes or help you pack up all the crap you’re lugging around. For me, the hardest times are when I have to pack up and he’s moving like a sloth. I get agitated and I have a feeling he gets anxious because we are going to a new place. I always try to explain to him where we are going, give him plenty of warning, and even show him pictures (don’t have to do this when we go to Spain because he knows he loves it there). I also try to pack things up beforehand so I don’t get overwhelmed. He can help some but he can’t lug heavy bags down 3 flights of winding stairs. But there have been mornings when both of us get overwhelmed and there’s a moment it looks like it’s all going south. I know I don’t want him to be treated the way many of us were treated when our parents got dysregulated. We’ve worked so hard on this. We are both human. We both understand this. We look at each other and hold our arms out and say “let’s calm down together” and after we reset, we try again. If only our parents had had this skill. #gentleparenting #reparenting #singlemom #singlemomtravel #travelwithkids #healingjourney