Do’s:
•Involve them in every aspect. From provisioning and cleaning, to navigating and boat maintenance. It’s all a learning experience. And it makes them feel like a part of the team and not just along for the ride.
•Do have a safe place they can go when docking or when you’re underway and are busy. We use a pack n play for our 14 mth old and our 5 yr old knows to stay put in her room or wherever she is, when we ask her to.
•Make sure to set boundaries for your kids. Big sis (5), knows she’s not allowed to go outside the wing doors (basically down the side of the boat towards the bow) without us with her…..and definitely not without a life vest. No excuses.
•Make sure you factor in a minimum of 1 hour to pack up and leave the boat. Unlike a hotel where all you have to do is pack your suitcase, with a boat, you need to button up the boat (close vinyls, take out trash, dishes, etc) as well. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is clean up your mess from the time before, the day you arrive at the boat. So just do it before you leave. And we all know cleaning with kids is almost pointless, right? The second you turn around, I swear you have the same mess to clean again. Confine them to one spot on the boat if you can and save that area for last.
Dont’s:
•Don’t Expect anything to go as planned. You have to be flexible and have a positive attitude for your kids to see if things go wrong. AC may die, generator may quit, you may have to wait out a storm or have longer days than planned.
•Don’t forget your kids may be bored with a long trip. Let them go have some alone time or personal space to just do their own thing. Seeing wildlife and bridges are cool, but they really may care less about the cool old boat that just passed for the 10th time or the house that looks like a mansion.
•Don’t forget to bring the baby monitor. It’s not just for sleeping. We use ours when our 5 year old wants to head downstairs to play by herself during one of our trips. We can check in from time to time and she can too. You never know when a big fishing yacht may come flying by with its big wake; rocking the boat so hard it’s unsafe to move anywhere on the boat. It’s good to know where your kids are and let them know when it’s safe to come up.