If you’re like most American families, you’ve got more than one kid competing for your attention on a daily basis.  With the love and fun that multiple children bring to a household come chaos and sibling rivalry too.  Forget giving your kids your undivided attention, most days it’s hard to even finish a sentence.

When our kids were 3 and 5 years old, my husband and I began the tradition of taking each of them away overnight separately once a year.  I’d take my son and he’d take my daughter, then six months later we’d switch.

We knew it would be fun, but we also found it was incredibly sweet to reconnect with our kids without the distractions of family and home.  I highly recommend one on one parent and child getaways, and here are a few tips to get you started.

Don’t Go Too Far

We limit our trips to one night which means our destinations have to be within easy driving distance of our house.  In my book, any drive longer than two hours is too long.  Alternate forms of transportation are fun too.  Depending on where you live, a train, bus, or ferry ride can be part of the adventure.

Keep It Simple and (If Possible) Inexpensive

Neither of my kids cares much about hotel location, so we don’t splurge on that.  Their priorities are indoor heated swimming pools and room service (in that order).  We remind them that the less we spend on the hotel, the more we can spend on entertainment.

Plan Together

Give your kids a few itineraries to choose from and work together to plan something a little out of the ordinary.  Since our family does a lot of international and cultural travel, my kids have unsurprisingly chosen amusement parks, baseball games, zoos, aquariums, and water parks for our getaways.  None of these would be my first choice, but I’m always surprised at how much fun I have.

Take Plenty of Pictures

Consider surprising your child with a photo book (complete with dates and funny captions) as a memento of your trip while they’re still young enough to appreciate it.