My first single parent/child vacation - A diary of mistakes and wins

Day 1: I didn’t think I’d be so grumpy on the plane ride from Vancouver to Mexico. It all stemmed from my desire to watch a movie. It was a five-hour flight. That should have been doable, right? I thought the in-flight video screen would captivate my six-year old daughter, Sophie. There were so many interruptions I didn’t see the end of the movie. Clearly I underestimated how excitable and fidgety she would be on the plane. My bad.

Upon landing in Mexico, we missed the only shuttle bus after being pestered by four different sales reps, one whom outright lied about when the shuttle was leaving. The Air Canada Vacations contact asked me to point out the sales reps, and I had no qualms confronting the one who lied, and as a result he had to pay for our cab ride to the hotel.

Day 2: Hmmm, I don’t see any other single parents.

I’m trying to remember Spanish lessons from a decade ago, testing them out on hotel staff. Sophie is enjoying repeating some of the words.

On past family trips, my ex-husband would take Sophie into the ocean, and help her find sea critters. Choosing to evolve from my 'sit on the beach and watch' role, I tried saying yes to the activities my daughter wanted to do. We jumped waves in a wild ocean, and I even let a large, red hermit crab crawl on my hand (that was a first for me!). Leaving my comfort zone paid off for both of us.

I am tired! Maybe it’s the heat or the red wine I had with dinner. It’s 7pm and I’m sitting beside the pool watching Sophie swim. I’m still wearing the dress and heels I wore to dinner but ready to jump in and rescue my daughter if the need arises. I spent over 20 minutes curling my hair; it would be a shame to wreck it (downloading Sophie’s favorite shows onto the iPad afforded me some precious time). I am so grateful Sophie is a strong swimmer.

Day 3: Still haven’t seen any other single parents.

Sophie made a friend! I quickly befriended the other kid’s parents. It was wonderful – it gave me peace of mind to have two extra sets of eyes watching out for Sophie. This was helpful when I wanted to go to the bathroom. Instead of dragging her along with me, she got to stay and play in the kid’s pool with her friend. It was also refreshing to have adult conversation!

Day 4: Excursion to Las Caletas Island – amazing and recommended! There wasn’t enough room in the boat’s bathroom to bring Sophie in with me. I made her put on her life jacket, told her to stay seated, and asked a lady one row behind us to keep an eye on her. Definitely not ideal.

Sophie can say several Spanish words, and now says “Ola, dos por favor” to the restaurant host when we want to be seated. It makes me happy to see her proud of herself.

During dinner, sadness crept in. I felt like I was the only single parent at the resort (not that it matters). I’m sure Sophie’s pre-dinner meltdown didn’t help my mood, or the two glasses of wine I had with dinner. Not wanting to impact Sophie’s evening, I tried to act normal. Fortunately, five minutes into the evening’s upbeat entertainment, my blues were shed.

Day 5: Sophie went to the Kids Club for the first time. I was looking forward to having a few hours to myself. I thought, ‘I can finally go to the elegant adults-only pool and bar, and have some adult conversation’. However, no one was at the bar, and even the bartenders weren’t in the mood for talking. It didn’t seem right to chat up people dozing off on sunchairs, and as gorgeous as the infinity pool was, it was the opposite of inviting, with half a dozen couples just standing around the outskirts. It felt like an exclusive club, and I hadn’t paid the membership dues. I sat on a deckchair, trying to read a book. A twinge of loneliness poked at me, and the longer I sat there the more awkward I felt. I quickly downed my Mango Tango and that was the last I saw of the adults-only area for the rest of the trip. And I didn’t miss it! What I did miss, however, was my travel companion. After about 20 minutes of snapping pictures of the resort, I was ready to have fun with Sophie.

Day 6: With the ridiculously high humidity, and an urge to get off the resort, visiting a waterpark seemed like the perfect fix. The waterslide attendant made me remove my t-shirt. If I’d had longer to think about it, I would’ve used my shirt to scrub the scum buildup on the way down. But the uncomfortable bumps in the partition every meter were competing for my attention. Sophie on the other hand, had a fantastic time! There was about five minutes of panic when we got separated on the way to returning her life jacket. We had a set meeting place but she had trouble finding it. I found her safe and sound but I wonder if it would have been more comforting to have a second adult help look for her.

Day 7 (last full day): I told Sophie that we’re leaving tomorrow, and asked her how much longer she would like to stay. She said, “three months!”. I could live with 90 more days of cooking and cleaning service!

Before the trip I knew I was going to a family resort and that it would be highly unlikely to meet other single parents. I’m guessing I spent a total of 20 minutes out of eight days feeling sorry for myself. We had an amazing time together and I would do the same kind of trip all over again in a heartbeat. Next time, however, I will check my dream of watching an entire in-flight movie at the baggage counter.