Really? When my kids were young (< 10, so a 12 year span), they were recognizably different cognitive functioning every month or so. Every month was a whole new game.

But yes, I do remember some of the early games, building block towers, as if they were yesterday.

Oh the kids themselves are different! But every day follows pretty much the exact same format, and if we try to mix it up they punish us harshly. (I kid but you get the idea).

Yeah agreed, in the moment it feels so much more meaningful and enjoyable but in retrospect.... where did the time go?

I suspect it's because we don't have enough time for introspection as the kids grow so there's nothing to anchor/solidify those memories.

Apparently sleep is when we form our memories and they make sure I don't get much of that.

You can travel with them, too. It's just not as easy :-)

We are soon, though I wish they could get vaxxed first (both under 5). Mostly it's just that every day is the same, and there's next to no spontaneity in life.

It's ok - we knew what we were signing up for before having kids, but deciding at 3 o'clock to spend the weekend camping is a lot less practical now. Even a quick outing requires a solid 30+ minutes of prep.

But also not that difficult.

The grandparent comment was basically saying that most (all?) travel stopped 5 years ago, when presumably they had kids.

So at least for some people, based on the fact that they stopped traveling, it is difficult :-)

I believe that is more a choice than a given.

Its about how selfish one is. Sure we can cram our tiny kids into plane to Japan and do that trip we planned like there is no tomorrow. But if you know a bit about child's mind you know how stressful for them that whole experience would be.

Eh, I guess, but I look back on traveling as a kid as one of the best parts of my childhood. I was bored as hell on the plane but I got over it.

Well, I'd just compromise.

Travel locally, by car. Trips of about 3-4-5 hours should be doable, for extended weekends or week long vacations.

You probably want school-aged kids if you really want to go far across different time zones.

But more expensive (4 plane tickets instead of two, for example).

It's all relative I suppose. It's a hell of a lot harder than it was! When I travel with adults I don't have to worry ahead of time about handling poop or bringing multiple changes of clothing or buying twice as many tickets or booking a room where it's OK if my kid is screaming for half the night because how do you get a wildly jetlagged 2 year old to sleep? They can't get vaccinated yet either so that's another source of stress too.

My experience is it is easier to go with the flow (with kids), so if the 2 year old can only adjust 1 hour of jetlag per day then you start with going to sleep at 4am and work your way down.