60 Before 60 Project: #27 - Share a Life Experience with My Kids

My two children are now grown adults who have both moved out of our family home and established their own careers, homes and lives. 

I am extremely proud of them both and the wonderful people that they have grown to become. I also realize that as challenging as it sometimes is now to get together, it’s likely only going to get more complicated as their lives continue to change and evolve. 

One of the things that I wanted to do this year as part of my 60 Before 60 project was share a life experience with each of them. My hope was to create some type of special and unique memory that we would then be able to recall together for the rest of our lives. 

When I spoke with my kids about this, they both were quite enthusiastic about the idea. To be honest, I was quite relieved as I wasn’t quite sure what their reaction might be. Going away with your mom could possibly be not at the top of their list of priorities. 

My son and I had originally booked a trip out to the west coast of Canada however the flight was cancelled and so we are now having to investigate some other options. 

As for my daughter, she found an Alaskan Cruise that looked extremely interesting. So we booked this trip and we just returned (you can probably already guess what #28 is on my 60 Before 60 Project list!). 

In short, we had the most amazing time! 

What I found most interesting in this experience is this was the first trip where I was not the leader and taking charge.  

Over the last few years, my daughter has done quite a bit more travelling than I have. This gave me the opportunity to sit back and watch her in action as my she managed our online flight check ins, baggage and designed our itinerary and excursions. She kept me on time, made sure that I knew exactly where our muster station was (for those that don’t know – in an emergency this is where you need to go to get on your lifeboat). She watched the weather forecast to make sure that we wore the right type of clothing for the day. 

I am very fortunate. I have always been quite close with my two children. But what I discovered on this recent adventure is that I was able to now see and experience my daughter as an adult. We shifted from our parent / child relationship into a more mature and comfortable appreciation of each other. We saw and experienced so much on this cruise that we now will share together for the rest of our lives. 

I now look forward to sharing another adventure with my son very soon! 

My 60 Before 60 Lesson: Sharing experiences with your children can bring you great joy in life – at any age 

Coming up next – I share my experience on my Alaskan Cruise adventure! 

Interested in seeing all my 60 Before 60 experiences? Click here.