1. You can not expect your child to be on restaurant behavior all the time. By the end of Sunday in Rome wildman was so fed up being stuck in a highchair for 2 hours at a time that he threw a plate of spaghetti in the floor. Not acceptable behavior but I can't blame only him! So instead of long drawn out meals we stopped and had lots of snacks in Venice and grabbed a few things from the grocery store so we could eat quickly and let them play. And picnics too- grab something "portare via" and head somewhere for a picnic lunch. It's the best of both worlds: you get good food, they get to play!
2. A day spent in the stroller seeing new things is still a day spent in the stroller. Both kids were just bored- not enough time running around and playing and too much time being drug from one cool sight to the next. While it is tough to find a safe place for kids to play during the high tourist season it became a must in Venice. We found some smaller piazzas and spent more time in our hotel room just letting them play. It meant we were able to keep them going later in the day and had a better time doing it!
3. A nap in the stroller is not a real nap. My wildman is still a two nap a day kind of guy. He tosses and turns all night and wakes up early, so he requires a short rest in the morning and a good nap in the afternoon. Hoping that a nap in the stroller would suffice just didn't work. No one sleeps that great outside of their bed and sure as heck not surrounded by a bunch of loud tour groups.
4. Overscheduled is a recipe for disaster! In Rome we tried to go, go, go and see it all. Thus we ended up with two cranky, sick kids by Monday and ended up catching the early train home. So in Venice we scheduled one thing a day. Whether that be a museum, or walking around to see sight see or a gondola ride. One thing... and after the kids played for a bit we would set off for something less structured. Much nicer time!
Of course it is not always possible to adopt the attitude "we will see it next time" because there may not be a next time. So here are a few suggestions:
- some hotels offer baby sitting. You could utilize them during nap time or after dinner so you can go and see more.
- one parent gets an afternoon free to explore while the other takes the kiddos to play. You can see a ton while by yourself or see those things your other half doesn't want to. This is usually when I shop or my husband heads to his 4,000th art museum!
Learn from my mistakes people- don't end up red faced frantically trying to clean up a broken plate of $15 spaghetti!
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