Imagine being trapped in a hotel room with two double beds with two teenage kids. On top of that imagine one being a boy and one being a girl. This is my current fate. Yay! Things can get a bit contentious in a tiny room, or compact rental car with four full grown people, but we have managed to find ways to keep the peace. Here are some of my tips.
Divide and conquer: You can’t do everything together as a group. Your kids will have separate interests and you can only force them to do so many things together. Break off into parent child groups based on interests or activities and spend a few hours a day apart.
Take turns: You don’t want to split up for the entire trip so you will want to take turns with each person choosing what will be done together. Of course the choices can’t be something that would be TORTURE to everyone else. Save those for solo or split activities. This goes for restaurant choices as well.
Sleeping bag: While mom and dad might be able to snuggle together on a full size bed, teenage kids will not be able to or want to do it. You can ask the hotel for a folding bed, but we just prefer to bring a sleeping bag and ask for a few extra blankets to soften the floor a bit. As for who gets the floor, toss a coin and enjoy the peace.
Musical car seats: Sometimes a parent must sacrifice space for sanity. You can keep the peace in the car if the non-driving adult sits in the back seat and surrenders the front seat to a teenage child. This will separate the kids, and also keep the parents’ tempers under check.
Mind your business: Teens get short tempered, bicker with each other, or sometimes just sound like they are arguing even when they are playing. Parental interference can turn a simple disagreement into a major meltdown, so sometimes it is best to keep your mouth shut and ignore their conversations unless it escalates into something more series.
If you liked this you should also read my other posts at the home blog, the homeschooling blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.
Encouraging Teen Entrepreneurs
Feeding a Family of Four of Vacation