Article: Are we having fun yet? If family vacations are short on enjoyment, parents may need to plan more -- and expect less

If a vacation is supposed to be a respite, a time when you do something new and exciting and relaxing so that you can return to your daily life refreshed and energized, a family vacation might well be an oxymoron.

If anything, a family vacation has the potential to be one of the most stressful weeks of the year: You may plan and look forward to it for months, but it can disintegrate within hours. Your sleep-deprived toddler won't stop whining, the older siblings won't stop bickering. Your preschooler asks 10 times in two hours when he can go home to his real house, and your 8-year-old is pouty because she misses her friends. And then it rains.

There is no guaranteed formula for keeping ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!