Silly Rabbit, Gap Years are for Kids!

In the States a gap year is becoming a popular rite of passage before heading to college. Maybe it is time for parents to think about a gap year; they aren’t just for students.

Did you know The Time Credit system in Belgium entitles employees of one year per lifetime of absence from their job, in order to prevent burn-out and to provide an opportunity to pursue other important things in life. That is a pretty cool social experiment!

We have sabbaticals but they are very rare in corporate America outside of scholarly circles. If you live in the States, you will have to blaze your own trail for a gap year.

Will it require risk and sacrifices? Of course. Should we be responsible parents and make sure we nurture our children with our blood, sweat and tears? Absolutely. The paradox of being parents is working to the bone to meet car payments, rent and child costs often at the expense of personal or family dreams. I think we all say well it’s a dad’s life or that is the life of a mommy. Maybe there can be a balance and it begins with a gap year and aspirations.

Where do we find the balance? The path will be different for everyone but taking a pause and figuring out what dreams you have is a great start. A gap year could be reducing your workload and cutting back on expenses to pursue your passion for art, photography, travel, woodworking or putting more time into biking or running your first marathon. A gap year could be a great way to retrain or increase your skill set.

We found out for our family we had to pick a date two years in the future and share it with our closest friends and family. Even against the backdrop of a corporate bankruptcy that wiped us out we had to have the goal and then worked toward that goal. It could be years out but if you don’t pick the goal and create accountability it will be something you will get to one day.

They joke happy wife, happy life. Maybe we should change it to happy adults, happy children. Life is short and the time we have with our kids is even shorter so pick a goal and chase it relentlessly.

For our gap year we wanted to pursue a dream to travel the world. If travel is your dream, we put together an article on how to plan for a trip around the world.

You silly rabbit, gap years are for adults.