Is Family Vacation an Oxymoron?

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Chen May Yee swapped life as a foreign correspondent in Asia for domesticity in Minneapolis, where she lives with preschooler Maya, kindergartener Zoe and husband Chris, a stay-at-home dad. She writes about healthcare at the Star Tribune and hankers after warmer climates.

Kay Krhin makes daily attempts to balance doing more with less and less with more at work and home, more or less. She is married to multi-faceted modern man Peter and is a slightly seasoned mother to preschooler Ben and toddler Vivian.

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Is Family Vacation an Oxymoron?

Posted by: under Family activities Updated: September 3, 2009 - 11:40 AM

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By Kay Krhin

We just got back from our first real family vacation.

(Read: not to either set of grandparents homes).

This also means there were no doting aunties and uncles or grandparents to run interference.

No pack of cousins to run with.

Yes, we were on kid patrol 100% of the time.

We went “up North” like good Minnesotans do.

There were requisite stops for photos by large fish in small towns along the way.

There was no kicking back in the lounge chairs with a trashy summer beach book.

There were the many vacation dangers that kept us on our toes and vigilant around the kids.

Fire, water, rocks, and slimy things! We were out of our element.

“Stay away from the fire pit!”

“No running by the pool!”

“Don’t jump off the top of the rockpile! “

“Ack! Please stop squishing the frog.”

And then there was our son’s first incident with a leech…

No it wasn’t like our pre-kid vacations with lazy days of lounging at the lake. It was constant lifeguarding.

Yes there was some anxiety, yes there was constant attentiveness, but we loved it. We were together all day every day and have the memories to show for it.