family holidays

A Dad's Point of View - Summer Vacations are for Parents Too

Remembering Chevy Chase in those summer vacation movies reminds me of the fact that most so-called “family vacations” are, at best, vacations for the kids and torture for the parents. I’m generalizing, of course, but most generalizations as well as clichés, have a strong basis in truth. I stand by the proposition that we parents usually need a vacation after our family one, if only to recover and rest.

This summer my younger son, David, got to spend several weeks at the sleep- away camp he loves, while my older son, Will, is indulging his passion for rock ‘n’ roll at a Rock School where he’s taking drum lessons, and participating in numerous bands and concerts through the school. He’ll also be living, figuratively, in our garage with his own band, driving the nearby horses crazy, or am I mistaking their thrashing about as dancing?

Submitted by community on Mon, 17/08/2009 - 6:04pm

Kiss your vacation good bye

teaching your child how to say good bye Coming to the end of holiday or family vacation can be hard for many reasons, espically if you have been catching up with friends and family. You might find you get a lump in your throat, but your children may also be feeling the emotion of saying good bye to the family holiday. Just recently we had a fantastic time catching up with close friends and watching our children play together and get on so well (one of the simple joys of having kids), but when the time came to say goodbye our 3 year old found it difficult to say good bye to his new friend.

So what should you do to help and teach your child to cope with the emotions that come with saying good-bye to friends and family after a great family vacation, especially when your child’s lip turns down and says “I don’t want you to go”?

Submitted by community on Wed, 29/04/2009 - 10:13pm