u/atlas_reverie

This has admittedly not been something I've put much thought into with regard to my own family, as neither of my kids are in school yet. I know many others who plan their vacations around school breaks, but have up until now had the flexibility to just travel with my kids whenever. But with the oldest set to start this fall, I was reading over the terms around unexcused absences and thinking, oh crap, total freedom around our family vacations is definitely a thing of the past!

So - do you ever pull your kids from school for vacations? How often do you feel personally comfortable doing that? Or would you never do that? How flexible or rigid is your kids' school around parents doing so? It looks like our kid's school will be somewhat rigid about not allowing it, which I accept and will abide by, but I'm curious about how different schools and families handle this!

It can be chubby, fat, or skinny, I don't care - I'm curious where the best sleep of your life (outside of your or others' homes) has occurred? I'm a poor sleeper but value little more in life than a great night's rest, so it matters a lot when hotels and lodges prioritize that. I'm particularly thinking about my honeymoon, where I spent four nights at Kanana Camp in the Okavango Delta. On the third night, my husband and I slept in the "sleep-out deck", overlooking the plains. It got extremely cold but the bedding was among the most comfortable of my life, and they gave us extra "bush babies" (hot water bottles) to keep us warm. I won't say I slept like a baby (since having two babies, I've discovered what a uniquely misleading and taunting expression that is) but I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of wildlife before being completely dead to the world for the next 8 hours. It was absolutely glorious.

Other shoutouts: city hotels with particularly good blackout curtains (Hotel Orfila, which let me check into my room at 8am after a miserable redeye flight, has earned my loyalty forever) and Dunton Hot Springs, which had the best down comforter I've ever touched.

Bonus question - what are your sleep pet peeves? It drives me absolutely crazy when hotels have flashing carbon monoxide or smoke detectors directly above the bed.

Parents! What's your personal policy on pulling kids from school for vacations? What's their school's policy?