Family Adventures Versus Vacations

June 22, 2012 | Filed under: Carmel Valley,Featured,Health,Health & Fitness,Learn,Parents' Corner,Rancho Santa Fe,Your Family Matters | Posted by:
Carmel Valley San Diego Community | Is Your Child Sleeping Enough | Dr. Keith Kanner

Photo by Layla Mazdyasni

If you have kids, then you know the difference between an adventure and a vacation.  Simply put, if you are an invested parent and your kids like you, there is no such thing as a family vacation per se, it is always an adventure and that’s a good thing.  Often times parents forget that 18 years goes very quickly and if you don’t realize that daily, time with your kids will slip by.  Therefore, embrace the time with your kids and make the times together fun and adventurous.

It is true that parents do need their own “down time” and it is also true that parents have to take care of themselves to be better and rested parents.  But, this can be done separately from time spent together as a family.  This is where the needed “date nights” for parents are essential as well as a parent vacation when the kids are old enough to allow you time away from them.
When children grow, they remember the constructive times spent with their families.  For example, when families travel to foreign destinations, the learning is intensified because the parents were there invested with them.  Most adults reflect fondly to these times of childhood and adolescence and frequently remember them as positive for the trip was a constructive family event that all could share together.   Vacations on the other hand, are defined as relaxation.  Very few parents are able to relax when they are travelling with their kids because kids need their parents because they cannot entirely self-manage themselves until they are adults.  Sure, some vacation spots have kids programs, but why use them if your kids are only kids for a finite period of time?
Picking a destination should also be a family decision.  Children in both grade and middle school study different cultures and countries.  Consult with them about ideas of where to go.  From a financial point of view, economical adventures are also fun whether it might be camping or some sort of a road trip, the most important time is family time which form memories which last a lifetime.

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Carmel Valley San Diego Community | Keith Kanner

Dr. Keith Kanner is a Licensed and Board Certified Clinical Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychologist and Psychoanalyst. In addition to a full-time private practice in Rancho Santa Fe, California, he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of California San Diego where he teaches both human development and also trains medical students how to better understand and relate to their patients. He also serves as the Director of Clinical Counseling for La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla, California, and is a Clinical Professor at The San Diego Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.  Dr. Kanner also sits on the National Board of Directors for Kids Korps USA, which is the largest organization in the country that teaches children and adolescents the importance of volunteering to help the community at large. As a father of three children, he is also a dedicated baseball, football, and soccer coach.

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