Episode 94: After a Road-trip…Memory Stacking
What You’ll Learn
Life Notes (01:46)
Your Capacity / Sanity & Your People (05:03)
Buffer Days! Maybe Even a Buffer Week! (15:35)
Animals (24:36)
Unpacking (29:58)
Your Mindset Around Your Memories is Everything! (35:08)
Memory Stacking / Strewing (46:30)
Takeaways (50:02)
Invitation (52:05)
Tallulah MADE every trip after doable.
“Kids don’t remember their best day of television.” – Unknown
Here we are on Day 5 of our Road Tripping with Family series...we have had WAY too much fun recalling all our adventures and the lessons we've learned, we hope you have too!
Today we're talking about AFTER the trip is over.
Listen in our humble, but totally right and informed opinions…trips are worth it 100% of the time.
The stories…the shenanigans…the near death experiences…the worst of the worst…the best of the best…the funny…ALLL the things…they make memories lasting memories you can't fabricate any other way. They bond, they connect, they encourage, they build. THEY ARE WORTH IT.
And these lessons we've learned along the way make each and every "next" trip a little easier.
We're coming today because almost no one considers what happens AFTER the trip…and boy do we have some thoughts and ideas to share here.
LIFE NOTES (01:46)
Coming Home
The drive home
Not as fun
Expect tensions to be a little higher
Anticipation of 'home' + disappointment is a hard juxtapose
Mixed emotions
Employ comforting tactics as much as possible
Let it be easy
Watch the tv…play the games…give the paci at the wrong time
Put a pull up on the potty training kid *do that anyway!*
Don't forget that breaks are just as important on this day…
Set the travel up so that your last day is the shortest day of driving
What we tried in St. Louis…and that didn't go well
Last 20 minutes
Your Capacity / Sanity & Your People (05:03)
Let it be easy
Food / back-up / freezer meal
A friend
Managing emotions
Expect emotions!
Expect physical responses
NOT a bad thing
Let people do their thing
Decompress
Shower
Be alone
Watch a movie
Maintain / Jump back into routine as quickly as you can *babies*
Not extreme…but the anchoring items
Buffer Days! Maybe Even a Buffer WEEK (15:35)
Recovery / deployment re-entry protocol
Consider your husband
Animals (24:36)
Arrange delivery or pickup*
Pay/Gift your people (or their mothers!)
Fish and Hamster
Not the time to nickle & dime
Unpacking (29:58)
My husband vs. me
Employ your kids (you're growing future husbands/moms)
How we raise them is a gift to the world
Look for the need
Wash everything
Your Mindset Around Your Memories is EVERYTHING (35:08)
It's all about perspective...Tallulah MADE every trip after doable.
Bad weather
Scary driving
Not being able to get to the cabin
Getting stuck
No hotels
Making the commitment to go to Mass
Making the commitment to see the trip in the light of gratitude / memories
Britt's mindset with Brandon vs. others
Remembering everything negatively vs. with humor and pride
Create & build resiliency in our children's mindsets *waterfalls into the rest of their life*
Literally everything we do has the opportunity to build foundations for our kids..why would anyone waste that
Memory stacking / Strewing (46:30)
Bring your memories to the forefront
Social media
Chat books
Family movie night - pictures addition
You get to see and hear these events you lived but 'missed'
Takeaways (50:02)
Coming home is filled with ALL the emotions so get your head in the game mommas and let it be easy. Plan for a shorter drive and don't forget to include breaks…they matter, possibly even more, on this leg of the trip. And no matter how prepared you are…how organized you are…how peaceful you are…the last 20 minutes is going to test your humanity.
Consider and protect your capacity and that of your people. Let it be easy, expect emotions, and make space to decompress.
Find remnants of your routine and begin to build it up again as quickly as possible (within reason!)
Consider how you'll feel coming home…a clean house can make all the difference between feeling like your suffocating or can breathe easy.
Buffer days are vital! Don't plan things for the next day or two and encourage your spouse to add or protect a day to decompress and reacclimate.
Plan for your animals, be generous and thoughtful with those who cared for your valuables while you were gone. *even at a kennel…brownies could make or break the next opportunity to stay in a pinch*
Unpacking is subjective. Know your needs, but balance that with your spouse children's needs. Invite your kids into the process from start to finish…you are raising future spouses.
Your mindset around your memories is EVERYTHING….and it's within your control. You can create and build resiliency in your children's mindsets and memories as well. Relive those memories again and again and again in as many ways as possible…tell the stories, ask questions, look at photos, make a booklet, watch a reel, dive in and laugh and remember together. This may sounds a lot like gas lighting…but it's not…we like to call it memory stacking.
Invitation (52:05)
Okay If we haven't convinced you yet that travel deserves a spot in your memories…you might not be our people…but if you are…we didn't get all this hard won knowledge for nothing!
We put it all together in a guide for planning the Ultimate Family Road Trip. There are check-lists, our best tips for thrifty & peaceful travel, and our favorite on the go meals to prep ahead. Click HERE to get it! And share this series with any momma friends you know that are traveling this summer!
You are doing beautiful work momma!
