My 4 year old and I were excited to visit Musee de Orsay - we both love the impressionists.   The Musee the Orsay did indeed have wonderful impressionist paintings that even young children are able to enjoy.   However, very disappointingly this is not at all a kid-friendly museum.  The top floor of the museum didn’t seem easily accessible via an elevator for with a stroller.  Most disappointingly is that the staff were very unfriendly to children. it seemed like every 5 -10 minutes, I was being told not to let the children do something,  My children’ aren’t always calm little angels, but on this particular day, they were actually behaving quite civilized.  I was asked not to carry my 2 year old on shoulders.  Next, I was told that strollers cannot be folded up and carried on the shoulder.  My son was even told that children cannot stand up on benches.  Worst of all, the staff were far from polite or gracious.  All orders were barked in in a very gruff, annoyed and unfriendly manner.   To add insult to injury, the bathrooms didn’t have changing tables and the museum store which we all know is the highlight of any museum visit for a child had the tiniest children’s section.  All in all, if you must see some impressionist masterpieces with your children, try some of the smaller galleries.

Standing in a corner of a grand stairwell in the renown Musee de Louvre in Paris, pushing a screaming toddler for what seems like an eternity, I try to avoid the gaze of kind and unkind stares from fellow tourist wondering who the mother of the screaming child is. I wish I had wings like the Bird Woman statue in front of me to fly back to the comfort of home. You would think that being seasoned at traveling with children, that I would have had more sense then to drag a sleep deprived, jet-lagged and hungry 2 year old to any museum. But, my eagerness to see the Louvre overtook my better judgment and I now find myself about to have my own meltdown from having woken up several times through the night tending to jet-lagged children, listening to constant whining about everything from a preschooler who can’t understanding why we are dragging his tired body through the charming streets of Paris, and a screaming two year old. None of my grand dreams of introducing my children to the wonderful world of grand masterpieces were playing out quite like I had imagined….and I realized that tomorrow, we had to have a different strategy for overcoming the grumpy beast called jet-lag.

The following strategies were road tested the following day on the streets of Paris and resulted in a dramatically more enjoyable day for all. Since children of different ages have different tolerance for lack of sleep, keep in mind that these strategies were road-tested with with a 2 and 4(and a half) year old. During this trip to Paris, we learned that we should always give ourselves an extra 2-3 days to get over jet lag on top of what we would need to sightsee in a particular city. So, if you think that you need a week to see Paris, plan on being there 10 days in total.

Start off the trip well rested: If you are anything like me, the days before you leave on a big trip is like cramming for finals. If you were not already busy enough, you now have to pack everyone’s bags, clean the house, pay the bills, stop the mail….the to do list seems endless. It is tempting to stay up late and expect to catch up on sleep when you go on vacation. Okay, that was a great strategy before you had children, but the reality for a lot of parents is that vacations with children and particularly young children aren’t exactly restful unless you have grandparents or other help traveling with you. So, the best thing you can do to ensure a positive attitude when dealing with jet-lag is ensuring that you are well rested.

Re-establishing a sensible routine: The day you arrive, let the children and yourself sleep as much as you need to catch up from the lack of sleep on the plane ride over. Just go with the flow. Day two, you want to wake the children and yourself up at a decent time (no later than 9am) even if you’ve all been up a good part of the night struggling with jet-lag. Muster every ounce of will power to awaken yourself and those dead asleep (finally!) children. Plan on a very easy first morning. This is very difficult when you are so eager to see a new destination you’ve been reading about for weeks. But your restraint and patience will pay off. Picture me in the Louvre with a screaming toddler and you will come to your senses. Make sure you get back to your hotel for an afternoon nap at a decent hour. Keeping within walking distance from where you are staying will allow you to avoid feeling stressed out about navigating new road or public transportation. Just soak in the local area. After a nap which can be longer than usual, but not so long that it pushes bedtime too late for the children or yourself, drag those jet-lagged bodies out of bed and out into the fresh air for a walk to a park and to pick up groceries. Make sure that you get home that first night at a normal bedtime hour and put the children to bed. Set your expectations for a difficult second night of sleep. The third day, repeat the routine of the second day but you may venture a little further if the night before wasn’t too rough, but don’t pack the day and make sure to get that nap in. By day three, the children’s new routine should be established and now mom and dad can finally work on getting over their own jet-lag. Once the children are getting some solid night time sleep, you can start being more loose with their naps and letting them nap in the stroller or child carrier.

Start slow with the activities: After researching all the wonderful things there are to do at your destination, it is hard to think about starting out slow. You are pumped with adrenalin despite your lack of sleep on the plane, and so are your children, but while you are used to pushed yourself before you had children, with children in tow, pushing it during the first couple of days can be miserable. Just watch that negative utility racking up as you find yourself miserably wrestling with your child at a restaurant you had gotten a local recommendation for or having to persuade a preschooler that the climb up to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral will be worth the effort for his sleep deprived body. When you invest a few days overcoming jet-lag, while keeping the most highly anticipated and vigorous activities for later in your trip, it ensures that you all enjoy them fully. When moving from one sight or activity to the next in a day, try not to cover too much geographical distance. Traveling on public transportation with children with all the extra day gear can be very exhausting for parents and children. If you are planning on walking a fair amount, plan on putting even a preschooler in a stroller. It will help you move quicker between sights, but it will also allow your preschooler to save energy for enjoying the sights when you arrive. On the first and second day, do not plan on doing more than one major sight or two small activities during the day. There will be so much energy expanded towards getting your bearings and just absorbing the new environment.

Staying Flexible: Although I do have a tendency towards being high control, when on vacation with children who are jet-lagged, I am reminded that staying flexible can go such a long way in helping anyone keep a good attitude. Planning for unpredictability in the first few days when arriving at a destination will help parents to go with the flow. Accept the fact that everyone needs time to adjust and that it can happen at a different pace for each person. But do not assume that flexibility means not setting a routine. It means eliminating activities as needed and readjusting plans in order to accommodate the establishment of a daily schedule. It helps to plan for the adjustment period and to plan on staying in one place for a substantial length of time before moving from one town to the next. The easy pace that you start out the vacation at will give you the freedom to be flexible later. When planning your trip, create a small list of must do/must see sights, followed by a list of nice to see sights. If you get to any on the second list, that’s a bonus but don’t count on it. This allows you to be flexible and make better decisions on the fly when you are running out of time.

Arm yourself with snacks: Hungry children are often grumpy children, even if they can’t tell you that they are hungry or attribute their temper to hunger. When children are jet-lagged, they also tend to eat at strange times. This is compounded when you are visiting a place where the food isn’t familiar to them. It is hard for a young child to settle down for food in an unfamiliar environment because there is so much to discover and process. It seems that the best place to fill little tummies is in a stroller or car seat when they are sitting relatively still and strapped in. The rhythmic motion also keeps them calm enough to eat “subconsciously”. Don’t worry yourself with the quality of nutrition in the first few days especially if the foods available aren’t familiar to the child. A few days of less than ideal nutrition will not do a child harm. The key is to offer snacks often and don’t stress out at meal times if they don’t eat. Their body clocks are adjusting and it’s hard to time meal times to when their bodies are hungry until the new routine and schedule are in place. Offer lots of water throughout your day. Sippy cups are helpful for drinking on the go so you don’t have to keep stopping to make sure that little junior doesn’t spill everything on his clothes.

Encouraging good night time sleep away from home: Hopefully your child is already sleeping well in the evenings at home. But, bringing along a few familiar things that help to provide consistency and comfort can go a long way to encouraging good night time sleep. I am sure that any sane parent would rather die than not bring along that special lovie. So, that requires no explanation. But there are a few other things you can bring or do to help ensure a good night’s sleep away from home. Try to get your child used to whatever sleeping environment he or she will be sleeping in ahead of time in the comfort of home. If you are using a portable crib, have the child sleep in it for at least a week before traveling. If your child is used to sleeping alone, but will be sleeping with others while on vacation, get your little one used to it before you leave to minimize the stress while on vacation. If your child is used to a dark room, always, travel with a dark sheet which you can drape over the crib or over a window where you are staying to get the room as dark as possible. A favorite travel gear of mine is the Peapod travel tent. It is not only lightweight, but you can place this on any normal bed for a comfortable but safe place for baby to sleep. The best thing is that you can drape your dark sheet right over this tent to create a dark place for baby sleep in. All other distractions in the room are also blocked out from view by the dark sheet. If you think that noise is going to be an issue for your child who is sharing the same room or a small suite/apartment, get your child used to sleeping with a noisemaker . This can help to mask noise, but also sends a familiar cue to your child that it’s time to sleep once they are hear that familiar soothing sound the noise maker.

Traveling to new countries with children is a wonderful gift to them. Learning to overcome jet-lag is part of the package that comes with most International travel. While it isn’t always easy, giving our children the opportunity to discover new lands, different cultures and learning about varied human history is hugely formative. Bon Voyage.

One of very few non-stop flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to the Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) is on none other Air France. Although our family is well versed with flying, this was our first flight with Air France. We were pleasantly surprised that the flight attendants seemed fluent in English after all my French amounts to Parlez-vous l’anglais? We were also pleasantly surprised by the Airbus A340 with it’s relatively “spaciously” leg room even in economy. The food was decent, not as bad as American Airlines, but not on par with Singapore Airlines. Although they did have child meals available, they only had two on board, we opted for a regular adult meal and the kids ate some of the cheese, ham and bread for breakfast. For dinner, the cheese ravioli or the beouf bourgionne would have been a hit with our children if we had not stuffed them with crackers during take off to help with the change in air pressure. All the seats were equipped with a personal entertainment system and the cartoons were entertaining to our 4 year old (he’s not very discriminating with what he will watch), but our 2 year old wasn’t particularly interested (only very selective programming captures his attention). The headphones were the kind that hang on your ear - great for children because they fit any size head including that of a 2 year old. The downside is that they fell off easily so it was difficult for our two year old to keep them on for long. Big bonus for a short person like myself is that even in economy, each seat had a foot rest which made it a that much more comfortable when my 2 year old insisted on sleeping on me all night long. These foot rests are also very helpful if you are planning to breastfeed or hold a child in your lap for a large portion of the flight.

The major disappointments were that the children were generally received on the flight with coolness. No special toys were offered to start of the flight on an exciting note. Most attendants didn’t greet our children (except for one who obviously loved children). We were allowed to walk our stroller up to the entrance of the airplane, but we were very disappointed that upon disembarking the plane, the strollers were no where to be found. They were finally delivered with all other checked baggage. This was such a huge inconvenience because we had to carry all our baggage plus our two year old through many travelators, onto the inter-terminal train and up and down escalators. It made the journey to just baggage claim very exhausting even though we hada . I think it would have been near impossible.

Adventure Playground
162 University Avenue, Berkeley Marina, CA
Age Appropriateness: preschool - 12 years
Fees: 7 and up - $6 (under 7 free)
Hours: (School Year) Sat and Sun, some holidays 11am-4pm
(Summer) 9am-5pm weekdays, 11am-5pm weekends

The Adventure Playground, located in the Berkeley Marina is the very definition of Berkeley and all it’s tree hugging, granola loving associations. A playground constructed by children and volunteers out of scraps of wood, old nets, and machines is beyond unique. It changes by the day as wannabe “Bob the Builders”, adorned with work tools and safety gear, pound, saw and paint with great intent. After all, building a wonderland playground is serious business to the 4-13 year olds who seem to be the main construction crew. Besides giving rowdy youngsters a constructive outlet for their need to destroy and build, the Adventure Playground also gives children the freedom to create fantastic creations out of mere scraps. Forts, tunnels, bridges, pirate coves, and towers abound with imaginations running wild and taking form - definitely a lesson in resourcefulness and creativity!

The staff lovingly checks all the structures to ensure that it remains safe for playing on and around. Children also learn to care for the environment - in order to earn a tool, they have to pick up 5 pieces of trash, loose nails or rocks. Other nice features, also created out of scraps, are slides, a jungle gym created out of tires, and a zipline.

Children 7 years and older may enjoy the playground for a fee of $6 (parents may leave them to the supervision of the friendly staff). That being said, even our 4 year old (free) was totally enthralled by the playground. He can just about hit a nail with a hammer without mommy fearing for this little fingers. He ranks the Adventure Playground 10 out of 10, up there with Disneyland. If that’s the case, then this place wins the prize for value for money.

For younger siblings (under 3), the Adventure Playground can be a little dangerous, requiring very close supervision of a dedicated adult. Sharp and rough edges abound, along with splinters and nails. So, I definitely wouldn’t recommend bringing a toddler along unless one adult can keep both eyes fixed on the little one. However, a huge bonus is that adjacent to the Adventure Playground is a new modern and safe playground suitable for toddlers. To top it off, the view of the bay from both playgrounds and the picnic tables is magnificent. Other facilities next to Adventure Playground is the Shorebird Park Nature Center (built out of straw bales, recycled materials and solar powered), clean bathrooms and picnic tables with BBQ pits. This could be a fantastic location for a 7 year old’s birthday party. (I’m already planning….)

For more information about the Adventure Playground and it’s history, check out it’s website. If you plan on bringing a group larger than 5, call ahead for reservations. Nearby parking is limited, but there is plentiful parking on the other side of the road.

Someone came up with a brilliant and geeky solution to waiting for hours in line at Disneyland.  It is called RideMax - a software program that takes the average wait time at any given time of the day, on every ride, on every day of the year.  You tell the program what rides you definitely want to go on, which ones are nice to do, and what pace you want to go at.  The software then spits out an itinerary for you that takes you through the theme park ensuring wait times averaging about 10-15 minutes.  It takes all the brain work out of strategizing about when to get Fastpass tickets etc. Our group of 4 adults and 3 children (4, 5, and 8 years) found the itinerary accurate.  It also minimized any arguments about which ride to go on next.  With a 3 hour break in the middle of the day when we picked up some lunch and did some optional activities and rides, in total, our group managed to get on about 25 rides including all the major ones that one would typically wait an hour an a half in line to get on.  The software program costs $14.95 for 90 days.  It was well worth the price!  http://www.ridemax.com/