Talking to people about their summer plans, I've come up with a new term that I think could become a new diagnosis if the trend continues:  Shrinking Vacation Syndrome, or SVS.

Sadly, people do not seem to put a priority on family vacations any more.The answers are always similar variations of the same few themes:
no time, no money, kids too young, kids too old. Work needs me too much. (I love that one!) No one to watch the kids.
We earn vacation yet don't take it, unlike every other country in the world.  At the same time, we are also the only civilized country that doesn't guarantee vacation to employees. No wonder we are all so stressed.

Vacation is as vital to our beings as breathing, eating and sleeping. Vacation is how we regroup as individuals and family. Vacation is not frivolous or a waste of time. In fact, vacation is how we sharpen our senses so we can become more efficient when we do work.

For families, vacations allow for reconnection which is so important with lives becoming busier for parents and kids. For couples, vacations are a time to reclaim intimacy that busy lives and kids often make challenging. Remember, you were a couple before you were parents and always need to keep that in your line of sight. Vacations, even miniones, are a way to accomplish that!

As a pediatrician, I worry about the overall health of a family when I hear a family has not planned even a short get away. Even with young kids in tow and tight budgets there is a lot you can do to escape the rigors of daily life without spending a lot of money.

1. Stay at home and do day trips. Explore your back yard as it were.
2. Do a local overnight at a budget hotel or moderately priced hotel. With young kids, many hotels offer package that are really affordable.

Whatever you do the key is to break from your routine and to unplug – no cell phones, no ipods, no computers, emails, work contacts whatsoever!

For me, I need to not be near my computer – the temptation to write is too great. I do, however, bring an old fashioned pen and paper to jot down ideas for later posts and articles. As a writer, I realize inspiration may hit at any time but I don’t pursue it in any great length beyond an old fashioned pen and paper.

For my husband, he can’t be connected at all if he is to relax. His company has a way of tracking him down by his blackberry any where, any time. My Treo has limitations in cell coverage which I love! His Blackberry, on the other hand, seems impervious to those restrictions and seems to be able to penetrate even high mountains, time zones and international barriers. We take it on vacation when traveling alone to be able to have relatives reach us for emergencies for the very reason of its coverage but keep it in the safe and OFF at all other times.

By the way, I’ve written about this topic often over the years. Here are some links to other articles on this theme that you may find interesting:

Slow Down In Life To Be a Better Parent and Person

Work Together As A Family To De-stress

By the way, we took a few days around the July 4^th holiday and basically had a home-based vacation. We played tennis and golf. We had barbecues as a family – just us without importing friends and family. And, it felt like a vacation. When home, it is easy sometimes to give in to group events but we decided to lock the doors and just hang as a family unit and had a blast. Give it a try – spend time just with your own kids and each other. You really don’t need to do more than that to unwind – and it can be done within your own 4 walls!!

I found a plaque a few years ago in an ER that says it best:

A hundred years from now…it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child

~Kathy Davis

It really is that simple. Where kids are concerned, whether Rome, Cape Code or the Nile, all they will remember in the end is time with you. That, to them, is their ideal vacation. But, do take a “real”vacation once in a while. You all need to get away from those walls, too.

Image