One of the joys of working at SAM has always been traveling to winter resorts. It’s one of my earliest and fondest memories with my father, and one that I always wanted to share with my own family. Now that this time has arrived, though, it isn’t as much fun as I remember. I know, having kids means you have to sacrifice a little--instead of getting fresh tracks you hope to get kids to ski school on-time, with your sanity. Or, instead of happy hour, you hit the pool with the kids, eat at 6 p.m. and sleep by 9 p.m. But, all that is fine by me if I get to experience the joy of flying down the mountain with my kids.

My family consists of my husband and me, six-year-old twins, and a two-month-old baby. A ski vacation for my young family is always an adventure—fun, but it’s a lot of work, too. It takes a committed skier, or a lunatic, to face the two-hours-plus process (and that’s on a good day) to get kids up, fed, clothed and dropped off at ski school or daycare. My husband and I are often too tired to hit the slopes right away, and head back to the condo to regroup first. But once everyone is on the hill, the stress washes away quickly.

Of course, it’s not always an ordeal. And when a resort nails it and creates a stress-free, fun and safe few days for me and my family, I’ll return again and again, and tell everyone I know how great my experience was. Loyalty is strong when the comfort level is high.

I know that most of you understand this, and many do your best to accommodate us. But unless you are in our shoes, you may not understand the depth of our need. I’m certain my parents never had the kind of service that is expected with today’s families, but you can’t afford not to change with the times. Since we have travelled a fair amount as a family, I’d like to share some ideas to help you create more contented family customers. Some resorts already do many of the things listed below, but many don’t or are inconsistent.

• Train rental technicians to really take the time to fit kids in boots and helmets properly. Most ski school programs keep the kids in their ski boots all day. Happy feet, happy kids.

• Extend some level of discount for siblings. It’s expensive, as well as a huge hassle, for us parents to launch the sliding habit for your future best customers, so throw me a bone, OK?

• Ski schools can take care of outfitting the kids in rental gear. I’ve only come across this once, but it was heaven. It showed me that instructors can be more involved in helping students get the right (read: best fitting) gear. Most parents are so busy just trying to keep their kids from melting down that they don’t have time to make sure the gear fits. Oh, and please store my child’s skis if I am returning the next morning.

• Please reduce the amount of forms we have to fill out for each child. Better yet, get the forms to me before I arrive. I usually reserve space for my kids in ski school well in advance of coming, and most resorts send a confirmation via e-mail. There should be PDFs attached to that e-mail—rental forms, emergency contact forms, etc. I’ll gladly fill them out in advance.

• Provide curbside drop-off and pick-up service. This means you have someone literally meet me at my car and escort the children to the building. I’m not joking; this a hot option in the children’s programs in my suburban Boston town. Moms seek out and pay a premium for it. It’s especially convenient when mom has an infant.

• Stock a wide range of essential family-centric accessories in the rental area: two-way radios/pagers, face masks, goggles, neck warmers, sunscreen, socks, hand/toe warmers, water, snacks. When you have two-plus kids and two adults to kit out in rental, it takes a long time—especially after you factor in forms, meltdowns, lockers and bathroom breaks. The last-minute accessories that are not available in the rental area never ceases to amaze me.

• Give me a single, all-inclusive package. Don’t charge me $100 for the full-day ski school program and then tell me it’s extra for lift ticket and/or rental. Shock me once at the start so I can enjoy the rest of my day.

• Maintain good babysitter lists. If you don’t have one, get one—and make it detailed. Okemo has a great list with about two dozen sitters, ranging in age from 17 to 61. Okemo gave me enough background on each person that I felt very comfortable leaving my infant while I hit the slopes and dined out that evening. I will return to Okemo again this season because I found a fabulous sitter on their list.

• Serve hot cocoa at the end of the day at the base area and/or rental return. This happened once at an area, and my kids still talk about it. (In the wider world, IKEA serves cookies and refreshments at their check-outs because they know their customers are there for a minimum of three hours.) Young skiers are cold and tired after a long day, and we are a fragile family unit until we get back to our rooms. Our kids will hold in their emotions and explode when we pick them up; it’s a crap shoot as to whether they will be excited or frustrated. Either way, a cup of cocoa is the perfect distraction.

• Teach kids not only the techniques on hill but also the skiers conduct code. We appreciate that, and so will your other guests.

• Give me what I paid for. If I’m paying $100+ per child for the day, and I find out they watched movies and threw snowballs or were put in a class that was either too easy or challenging, I’m not likely to return. This sounds easy enough to fix, but many areas are not set up to move a child to a more appropriate class during the day. As a parent, I love to hear that my kids advanced two levels in one day. If they are excited to see their progress and can’t wait to return the next day, I feel my money’s been well spent.

In fact, that’s the bottom line. Taking a family skiing is a masochistic exercise unless the kids quickly grow to love it. Otherwise, families may well head to Disney World or the Caribbean rather than face the prospect of heading to the mountains. I’m lucky because my kids have already been bitten by the bug. Show-and-tell in kindergarten class this week was all about Jake and Bailey’s trip to Okemo over the weekend. We are already planning our next trip to the mountains.