Savvy Parenting : But Realistically: How to Get Away Without Getting Away The Savvy Source for Parents

This week, we're taking a look back at our favorite Being Savvy posts from last summer. Grab your favorite sunglasses and a scoop of drippy ice cream and enjoy!

Reflecting as we have on the delights of vacation and the pleasures of home has made us think: surely there are great ways to bring some of that escapist fun into our daily life, right?

Indeed there are. Whether work schedules or gas prices or both or neither are the reasons you are staying put these days, consider these Savvy ways to bring a vacation to you:

The number one most popular way, it seems, to escape the mundane is simply to mix it up a little bit. Break up the monotony. Go with the unexpected. Depart, even just momentarily, from that carefully crafted routine that both you and your preschooler cling to.

Take inspiration from Ginger Carlson and declare today a "Yes Day" where you'll simply go with (almost) any crazy scheme, meal, idea, activity that your preschooler can dream up.

Have breakfast for dinner. Pancakes are even more soothing for supper, it seems. Steal a preschool fave and make it pajama day (or evening) too. Parents can come to the table in pjs, robes, slippers and night cream too. If you really feel like gilding the lily, add grilled cheese for breakfast. With a milkshake instead of a smoothie. (Yes, we just gave you permission to serve ice cream for breakfast!)

Go to the beach at home. Inside or out. Towels, beach chairs, bathing suits, (MoonSand) sandcastles, the whole shebang.

Screen a flick. Darken the shades, pop popcorn, break out the Raisinets, turn off the phone, cuddle up on the couch or on specially aligned "theatre seats" you've tugged into place. (Check out Common Sense Media for suggestions of which preschooler-friendly DVD to pick. Or start with Mary Poppins!) Parental warning: this can easily become a regular "movie night" routine, which you'll then be forced to break again just to keep things interesting!

Box up the toys, put 'em away in a closet or garage and break out some "new" old ones when you need a rotation. All of a sudden your darling one is fully engaged by all the great stuff she seemed not to see a month or two ago.

Be a tourist in your own hometown. Hit the museums, the historical spots, the places you shun as an insider. Visit your own city like you don't know it at all. If you've forgotten how to do that, check our local Being Savvy vacation guides for inspiration! (Just go to the Being Savvy near you drop-down menu on our home page and start planning your trip without a trip!)