What would happen if your kids got to plan your next family getaway from start to finish?
Where would they want to go? What kind of kooky adventure would their young minds concoct?
They might be broke, but that just means they wouldn't be limited by a silly thing like a budget — only by their own imagination.
A new ad from JetBlue imagines just such a scenario.
In the commercial, kids enter a pint-sized travel agency and use a map to plan out their next family vacation.
One little boy books an excursion to Barbados to hunt for buried treasure. Another wants to take his parents to see Albany, N.Y. (Tough break.)
Another plans an epic (and perhaps physically impossible) road trip by pointing to random places on a map of the U.S.
In the end, the host asks the kids, "How much do you think this whole flight and hotel would cost?"
See how the charming and hilarious stunt ends in the video below:
Yes, it's a contrived scenario meant to sell flights, but the ad still holds an important message.
Family vacations are about a lot more than sun and sand.
Before the planning begins, the kids are asked why they think it's important to plan a family vacation. Their answers are extremely telling.
"[My parents] work a lot," says one. "When your dad or mom goes to work, you don't get to see them a lot," adds another.
And, indeed, research shows that parents and their kids often get way too bogged down in routine, with the majority of parents reporting that the thing they talk to their kids the most about is, well, the daily routine itself.
Time away from the grind is mega important toward the parent-child bond, according to science, and even though every parent knows that a vacation with kids can bring its own kind of stress, the emotional health benefits are massive for both parties.
It doesn't take a multi-thousand dollar blowout at Disney World to explore, play, and bond with your kids. A staycation could do the trick or even a trip to Albany.
If you can't come up with anything, ask the kids what they think. They just might have some pretty good ideas.