snowy

I will absolutely agree with this. I traveled a lot as a kid, and it taught me a lot. I might not remember specifics of what we did or where, but all of the experiences were valuable for what they taught me, especially in regards to manners and etiquette. Of course, there is a downside to this. The anecdote: Every year my dad had to attend a conference for his profession, and the whole family went as well as many of our family friends and their children (who worked with Dad); every year the conference ended with a fancy dinner that the kids didn't get to go to, so we would stay at the hotel with our babysitters (daughters of a coworker). One year I took the babysitters and our friends to the cafe in the hotel to get ice cream, told them to get whatever they wanted, and charged it to the room. My mom thinks I was 9 or so. Moral: Sometimes your kids will turn out to be more savvy than perhaps you want them to be.

And as a nanny, the kids who have traveled more--whether it's to accompany their parents on business trips or to visit family/friends far away, whatever--are much better behaved in public. It's easier to take them places around town than those kids who haven't traveled as much. They have better manners, better knowledge of etiquette, and a better idea of how to be safe.

My main goal prior to having children is to make sure we're in a stable enough place to do so. I want us to own our own home, have good health insurance, and make sure we have enough laid by in case of emergency. We're not even close to that place right now, and that's fine.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau