Family Vacation Retrospective

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Some of my fondest memories of childhood revolve around the few vacations we took and the many weekend "rides" and picnics that our family of seven enjoyed together, crammed into the 39 or 47 Chevvy. Real togetherness is how one copes when the deer flies would be so thick that meal preparation, consumption and cleanup would have to take place within the car. But gas was only 30 cents a gallon, I suppose.

Sharon from Clairity's Journal gives us her retrospective of what a 21st century family vacation is like.

A family vacation is so ... unvirtual. It involves real whining, biting bugs, plenty of dirt and, but only if you're not roughing it, a mattress thin as a pancake. We just got back from the CL family vacation last week in Wisconsin, five days with 180+ people, about half kids.

Why do parents do it? As Fr. Rich shared about his father, who took his kids somewhere different every weekend and on a vacation every summer, they do it to expose them to the various beauty of the real world. The theme of the weekend was: "You live for love of something happening now." For once, the experience is not in anticipation of something else--the way we work every day to get paid the next month, or study to get a degree. There's something greatly human about pursuing beauty for itself: it makes us grow. Without leaving the comforts of A/C, hi-speed internet connections, wall-to-wall carpeting, there's a lot we don't get. And we know it, even if we're lazy; for some reason parents are willing to stretch for their kids. Maybe you're one of the lovers of the great outdoors, but admit it, you'd rather get there without the hassle. [snip] Read it All