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My Favorite Wedding Present

October 20, 2008

 

For a wedding present, I gave my oldest daughter and her husband a timeshare.

Now before you decide I’ve lost my cookies and cursed a perfectly good relationship before it even had a chance to get off the ground, let me share the details.

I love to go on vacation. My husband doesn’t.

I’m originally from Florida — the tourist capital of America. My husband is from here — the country.

For years, when I went home to visit my family I would take the kids but since my husband had to work, he usually didn’t go with us.

So I’ve gotten in the habit of taking family trips without him. Now that all of the kids are self-sufficient (and most of them are teens), it’s a lot easier.

Then I discovered that it is cheaper for us to spend a week at a timeshare than it is to stay in a hotel. Plus, resorts are a LOT nicer!

I joined RCI, one of the two timeshare companies that allow you to swap your weeks, and discovered that we can stay anywhere we want to.

So I decided that my daughter needs to have a vacation every year and the cheapest way to do that would be the way I’ve learned to do it.

So I bought them a timeshare.

At first, they didn’t know what to say.

I kept waiting to hear, “No, thanks.”

And the first year they were married, they didn’t use their week. So it rolled over.

But this past week, during Fall Break, they decided to use it. They chose to spend the week in Gatlinburg.

They went to Dollywood and the Dixie Stampede, they climbed Clingman’s Dome and went swimming in the indoor pool.

They didn’t have to wash linens because the resort provided them with fresh towels on demand. They got discounted attraction tickets at the front desk. The playground was just outside their door where they could sit and watch the baby while the girls were in the pool.

They had a GREAT week and came back exhausted but happy and restored.

And I bet they spent less than $300.

Just about every morning during that week, I called to find out what they were planning for the day.

I was so glad to hear how happy they all were! After all, when you work all the time and juggle the schedules of a baby with a working husband and active teens, the routine of life can you’re your out.

Everyone needs a break every once in awhile.

But the thing I couldn’t get over was how happy *I* was to be able to make that week happen for them.

That’s why grandparents love to watch others open presents at Christmas. The joy comes in seeing someone become happy because you have given them something they want.

As you get ready to plan out your new year (which I DO hope you do every year, right?), make sure you include at least one week-long vacation. If you can plan two vacations about six months apart, that’s even better.

In stress-filled times like these, vacations serve a valuable purpose and help keep busy moms stable.

If you can’t financially afford to take a vacation, re-evaluate your life. Something isn’t in balance. Relaxation is a necessity of life and if you don’t plan it in, it won’t happen by accident.

 

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

who doesn’t expect you to buy a timeshare for all your kids like I do

www.EducatingForSuccess.com

 

 

 

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Written by Rhea Perry · Filed Under Rhea Perry 

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