Kelly Ripa’s Throwback Photo Is A Funny Reminder That Traveling With Kids Is Not Easy

If you’ve ever excitedly planned a family vacation only to realize you need a “vacation from your vacation” upon your return home, you’re not alone! As parents everywhere know, when you have kids in tow for your getaway, it’s hard to actually call it a vacation.

Most kids are not yet well-versed in the adult art of relaxation, and they can quickly make any thoughts of a blissed-out holiday seem like a laughable fantasy. “Live With Kelly and Ryan” host Kelly Ripa recently demonstrated this truth with a hilarious throwback photo on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnG4wG3DKQ5/?hl=en&taken-by=kellyripa

“A #tbt 2003 reminder: ‘a vacation with your kids is a trip, not a vacation’-@instasuelos,” she captioned a photo of herself looking exhausted while sitting on a beach with her three children: Michael, then 6 years old, Joaquin, a few months old, and Lola, then 2 years old.

Too funny! Parents everywhere found her post super-relatable. It has now received more than 286,000 likes, and celebrity and everyday parents alike chimed in to commiserate.

“Yup! This is exactly how I look on every ‘vacation’ we take with our 3 little ones,” read one comment.  “I always end up wondering why I thought it was a good idea.”

Actress and mom of one Jenna Dewan agreed, writing, “Hahaha TRUTH.”

As her children have grown, Ripa has shared a little bit about her personal parenting philosophy, including her view that she doesn’t think she should be her kids’ “friend.”

“I feel like children need boundaries,” she explained to Redbook in 2014, adding that her then-13-year-old daughter didn’t like her very much at the time, but she didn’t care.

“[Kids] need to know, yes, you can come to me with anything and everything and I’m there for you, but I’m not there to encourage you to get involved in social media stuff. I’m not there to encourage you to conduct yourself in a way that’s unbecoming of a child, because I’m your parent, and we have boundaries. If you don’t set limits and boundaries for your kids early on, and that means not giving into every temper tantrum, then later on, once they’re teens, it’s too late.”

Do you agree with Ripa’s take on parenting?