The Traveling Child
When Monet had their eldest, she recalls loved ones telling her and James their days of adventures abroad were over.
“We were like, “Have you met us?” This is the lifestyle that we, as husband and wife, created,” she said. “We wanted to continue that lifestyle whether we had kids or not.”
From taking Jordyn along with her on a girls’ trip to Sydney when she was 8 months old to bringing Kennedy to Colombia when she was 10 weeks old, Monet made one thing clear from the outset of motherhood: her life wasn’t changing in the slightest.
She started planning ‘Mommy and Me’ trips for each daughter
Shortly after the birth of her youngest, Monet started planning “Mommy and Me” trips. She books a trip for her and one of the daughters, leaving the other at home in Florida with her husband.
“I started it when Jordyn, who’s my eldest, was two,” she said. “When Kennedy was around three or four months old, I felt a little comfortable going away.”
“I was spending so much time with Kennedy because I was nursing, and she’s an infant,” Monet added. “I just wanted Jordan to know: ‘I did not forget about you!’ So this is our special time; we’re just going to spend it together.”
For their inaugural Mommy and Me trip, Monet took Jordyn to Las Vegas, which she said has more to offer than its famous strip of clubs, bars, and casinos.
“Get off the Strip, guys!” Monet said jokingly. “It’s beautiful —amazing parks and so many fun things to do.”
The girls pick the destination and get Mom’s undivided attention
The Vegas Mommy and Me trip was such a success that Monet kept up the tradition for the last eight years. She started getting Kennedy involved when she was two.
The older the girls have gotten, the more they’ve been involved with planning their one-on-one trips, Monet said.
“They choose where they want to go,” Monet said. “They let me know the things that they want to do there, and it’s a time for us to have that undivided attention for them.”
They may be sisters and close in age, but Jordyn and Kennedy aren’t carbon copies of each other, Monet added.
The Traveling Child
Along the way, they’ve also seen the impact travel has made on the children’s lives from infancy.
“While they may not remember the trips when they were one year old or six months old, they’re still being surrounded by that environment — learning patience, adaptability, flexibility,” Monet said.
Equally valuable is how open-minded her kids have become through their experiences abroad.
“There’s just so much that you can learn about the world, about yourself,” Monet said. “You become appreciative for certain things that you have in your own life.”