Isn't it fun when you get to pack up all your stuff and all your kids' stuff, cram them into whatever means of transportation you choose, and visit relatives?
Hell No!
Unless your family unit resembles a contemporary blend of The Waltons and Leave It To Beaver, Family Vacations are for the birds. To me, that is.
Of course, my own family unit of origin was more The Munsters than Father Knows Best, so I may be speaking from a different perspective than yours. But hey, this is my column and I'm having my say! Want to tell of your amazing adventures with your gleeful group? Write your own column and I'll read how the other half lives. Meanwhile, this is just from my own experiences, so everyone lighten up!
Now of course, all you out there shaking your heads and insisting t'ain't so cause you love all your doting relatives so much....excuuuuuuuse me. But I've taken enough of these "reunion vacations" to realize they are nothing but tsouris/aggravation/agita-inducing experiences.
Unless they're short and sweet. Zip in, make the familial rounds, and get the hell out. That's my idea of a visit, but I would never, never, never call it a vacation.
Vacation means with your nuclear (or as Bush calls it, "nuklar") family and doing stuff you want to, not fulfilling obligations or risk feeling guilty. When our kids were tots and Lew and I contemplated a "visit" every so often, I would express guilt about not seeing all the clan more often.
If you have a wonderful, delightful extended family, congratulations!
Go to the head of the class! But for many others, it's not so much fun. And how did my hub respond? "Live with the Guilt." And for the most part, we did, and had better vacations because of it.
We did The Dude Ranch, the Mouse Park (also not a vacation for us), mountain hiking and museum crawls of other cities. Some were great times, others had us on the verge of divorce. But all our dramas and family eccentricities (oh, like yours doesn't have any?) were contained within our unit. Not played before an audience of in-laws, outlaws and tsk-tsk Auntie Disapproval.
Not that there's anything wrong with these get-togethers IF YOU ALL GET ALONG. But I'm just sayin'.......if you want to have fun this summer, keep it local (save gas) consider your own needs before outsiders, and if need be.....Live With the Guilt.
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