A rich archive of weekly “Taking the Kids Columns” in newspaper syndication since 1992
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services It’s two days before we leave for a trip out West and my husband can’t find his hiking boots….
Have you ever gone to a party on the wrong day? When we arrive Christmas afternoon, the hosts and their kids clearly aren’t expecting company. In fact, we catch them snoozing. But we barge in anyway — we have come so far, after all, to see them. Our hosts, the Sea Lion family, live on San Cristobal island in the Galapagos
Let’s hear it for innkeepers who always have a smile for their guests — and everyone else who is struggling to keep smiling when hosting family this holiday season, when the visiting toddler drops Goldfish everywhere and the teen refuses to be roused before noon from the family room sofa bed. Did I mention the uncle who falls asleep on the couch before dessert, snoring loudly?
Honestly, I can’t remember anything I saw that day. I could never find that field again (though I do have a picture of it somewhere.) But I’ll never forget that glorious I-don’t-have-a-schedule feeling. Of course that was long before responsibilities – like children and jobs — curtailed my freewheeling travel style.
The next time the kids give you a hard time on vacation, remind yourself that you really are building memories to last a lifetime. Just ask Sheila Dennis. She was a wide-eyed 9-year-old when her parents took her to see the world-famous Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It was her first trip outside Texas. “I loved the glitter and the color,” she said. “I was thrilled.”
I’m lost! Hopelessly, completely lost on a winding, backcountry road somewhere in Westchester County, N.Y. Did I mention it was night and pitch-black? “How could you do this?” asks my aggravated 16-year-old daughter, Mel.
[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text] By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services Three hundred and 40. That’s how many steps and ladder rungs we climb to Bandelier National Monument…