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Author
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Topic: Travelling with teenagers. How do you make it a positive experience?
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KHolleger
TUG MemberPosts: 2799
From: Pennsylvania
Registered: DEC 2000
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posted 04-02-2001 16:37
 
Wow, Linda!
That is just what I am hoping will be the outcome of our investment in timesharing! You are an inspiration. This is only our second year doing this. Before, we just wouldn't vacation. Then our pastor preached about making memories with your children, capturing their heart while they are still young so you WON'T HAVE behavior problems and so forth. (Read the book "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Ted Tripp). ANYWAY, we were convinced to buy a timeshare and have really tried to make our vacations FAMILY TIMES, just as Lin said. I hope that by the time MY youngest (who is 4) is 18 years old, he will have the same great connections with his parents that Linda's boy has with his! That's our goal with this whole thing! Thanks again, Lin. You gave me something to shoot for.
Kathy
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KHolleger
TUG MemberPosts: 2799
From: Pennsylvania
Registered: DEC 2000
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posted 04-03-2001 05:48
quote:
Originally posted by Lin:
My pet peeve is parents who don't vacation with their kids.
Of course, family vacations ARE important, but husband-wife getaways can be important too. Our church has a Sweetheart Retreat every year. It is only for a weekend, but hey! I'll take it. This year we are going to the Marriott Seaview in New Jersey. We are really looking forward to some "marriage building"! Our pastor also preaches "husbands, date your wives" so my husband and I have had weekly date nights for the last few years. Great advice.
Kathy
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Lin
TUG MemberPosts: 424
From: Indian River, MI, USA
Registered: DEC 2000
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posted 04-04-2001 08:59
Kathy,
You're on the right track! I envy you having children that young. I wish I could start all over and do it again. Every hour of vacation time spent with your children equals a lifetime of memories. I've never felt the need to take "a vacation from my kids", only a vacation from my job, cooking, etc.! For the last three years I have made a Memory Book with vacation pictures when I return. Both boys get them out fairly often and relive the memories and show them to their friends. I only wish such a thing had been around when they were little. We do have picture albums, but not the same. I wish you a lifetime of great memories with your kids!
Linda
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Thanh
TUG MemberPosts: 240
From: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Registered: DEC 2000
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posted 04-04-2001 10:53
Linda,I'm with you 100%. We bought our t/s ten years ago, when my son was 7-year old. We have 4 weeks, so each year, we do 2 weeks in the summer (trading into places all over the country) and the other 2 weeks we spend at our home resort in Sanibel during Christmas and New Year. During the first few years, when my in-laws could still travel, we invited them to join us. My son got to spend a lot of time with his grandparents, which was wonderful for him as well as for them. I took pictures of us at every place we visited. We often look at our albums and feel so thankful for the life we have had so far. My love for photography had perked an interest in my son. He took photography courses when he was in high school. Many of his pictures were selected for display at our City Hall. He has gotten very good with his camera over the years that his work is far surpassed my husband’s and mine. My son is now in college. He still wants to vacation with us. We told him that he could bring one of his best friends along, but he rarely did. We felt that t/s has afford us this wonderful lifestyle - vacationing at many places that we wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise, and above all, keeps us so close to each other. We are looking forward to many happy years ahead.
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Quilter
TUG MemberPosts: 1662
From: MI
Registered: DEC 2000
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posted 04-25-2001 06:13
Thanks everyone for your input. We had a great vacation this time. I did type up a contract and all 4 of us signed it before leaving. I tried to cover everything that was a potential argument then I gave a draft to the girls and the mother of our guest to get their input. Needless to say, real life doesn't run like a contract and we had to improvise along the way. The foundation was laid, though, with the intention of promoting a good vacation for everyone and having it agreed to before starting out made any problems minimal. Some big differences in this vacation from the last were: 1. The guest - this one brings out the best of my daughter. 2. Our expectations - I got a wealth of constructive advice after the last trip. Some of it was from experienced parents and other was from reading books on teenage behavior. It wasn't easy seeing my mistakes and at first I felt like a real failure. Then I realized I've only been at this for a little over a year with this child and have 4+ more improved years to go.
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pegs099
TUG MemberPosts: 297
From: Dutchess County, NY
Registered: JAN 2001
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posted 04-25-2001 09:05
I'm so grateful for this thread! Sometimes people look askance when they see us spending money we can ill afford on vacations. I've gotten bold in my response, though. Basically, I've decided that vacations are going to be a priority for my family. Reading the other wonderful posts here (such as the boys being closer and kinder after vacation, I have 3), bolsters this decision.
Life is hard, there's a lot of stress. I personally cannot relax at home, there's always something that needs to be done. When I look back at my childhood, I remember the few vacations we took much better than the other times, and am grateful to my parents for the vacations we did take.
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