Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 16:21     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm lately feeling like winter break is a time all activities take a break and we can get away.


Op here: yeah I was looking at that this yr. Dh's work is closed for two weeks so he doesn't even need leave which is nice. I just wish it wasn't so expensive to travel then (not to mention the insanity of holiday travel plus weather issues )


DP here. Yes it is a very expensive and stressful time to travel. I’m still avoiding it for now. We do it maybe every third or fourth year and I’m reminded how bit relaxing it is.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 15:17     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This thread perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with all the parents here.

For us a two or three week summer break is non-negotiable. We just prioritized it.

Yes, I am sure our teenagers have missed out on all kinds of opportunities for sporting excellence and path-breaking contributions to the workforce. God forbid kids and parents have a nice holiday.


Honestly I thought I would be like you until I had teenagers but it’s really hard to tell them they have to give up something they really love so they can go on a vacation with you. My youngest just really wants to play on her HS sports team — that is her one thing she really wants to do. So that takes out August. I don’t feel like it’s fair to tell my oldest teen that she can’t get a summer job. And that requires a commitment in June and July. I also have a middle child that has one activity they really care about. So there we are. They would really resent us if we made them give up what feels to them very basic opportunities. It’s not like we are very overschefuked — they just don’t align well. It would not be a positive family memory to force one of them to give up the one single thing they want to do.


I agree with you. As your kids get older, you have to adapt and form different ways to spend time together as your kids have less availability. And, we're at the point where we really don't get many whole family vacations anymore, but we find ways to spend time together. I was never going to build a life around being able to have a two week summer vacation.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 13:41     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:This thread perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with all the parents here.

For us a two or three week summer break is non-negotiable. We just prioritized it.

Yes, I am sure our teenagers have missed out on all kinds of opportunities for sporting excellence and path-breaking contributions to the workforce. God forbid kids and parents have a nice holiday.


Honestly I thought I would be like you until I had teenagers but it’s really hard to tell them they have to give up something they really love so they can go on a vacation with you. My youngest just really wants to play on her HS sports team — that is her one thing she really wants to do. So that takes out August. I don’t feel like it’s fair to tell my oldest teen that she can’t get a summer job. And that requires a commitment in June and July. I also have a middle child that has one activity they really care about. So there we are. They would really resent us if we made them give up what feels to them very basic opportunities. It’s not like we are very overschefuked — they just don’t align well. It would not be a positive family memory to force one of them to give up the one single thing they want to do.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 13:21     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm lately feeling like winter break is a time all activities take a break and we can get away.


Op here: yeah I was looking at that this yr. Dh's work is closed for two weeks so he doesn't even need leave which is nice. I just wish it wasn't so expensive to travel then (not to mention the insanity of holiday travel plus weather issues )


Yeah - it does suck that it's so expensive at that time of you - but I guess if you're going on fewer trips, maybe you can spend more on the one

We are NOT going on full week vacation this summer which I am a little bummed about - but it's not just because of band camp. We have two close relative family weddings OOT this summer - so those are two full weekends away, and we are going to Iceland for a Wed.-Sun. trip (short, but hopefully fun). Anyway - my oldest is finishing soph. year - and we are going to visit colleges in our spare time this summer. Plus I would still like to try for a camping wknd away with friends if possible, a trip to NYC for myself to see my college roommates, and possibly an anniversary wknd away with my husband - so I guess we'll be busy enough as it is.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 09:41     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:This thread perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with all the parents here.

For us a two or three week summer break is non-negotiable. We just prioritized it.

Yes, I am sure our teenagers have missed out on all kinds of opportunities for sporting excellence and path-breaking contributions to the workforce. God forbid kids and parents have a nice holiday.


OP here. I mean we go on an average of 5 for vacations a year so it won't eliminate all. You do have to take into account what your kid wants. My kids love sleep away camp and scout camp (since it is most efficient way to earn merit badges).

But I did not mention any sports just band! But i do think it be hard to miss weeks of band and then have to catch up on the routine.

I certainly want long summer vacations but for my kid camp is a vacation for them so they arent missing out on vacation.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 07:48     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
This thread perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with all the parents here.

For us a two or three week summer break is non-negotiable. We just prioritized it.

Yes, I am sure our teenagers have missed out on all kinds of opportunities for sporting excellence and path-breaking contributions to the workforce. God forbid kids and parents have a nice holiday.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 07:17     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:We had to give up big summer trips and traveled more at spring and winter breaks.


+1.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 07:12     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:I'm lately feeling like winter break is a time all activities take a break and we can get away.


Winter sports practices ruined this for us. My DD had practice the entire winter break all through HS and I just got the college practice schedule with practice through the entire winter break.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 07:10     Subject: Re:Summer vacations with high schoolers
HS made it tough. It really depended on the activities my kids choose. The oldest wasn’t into school related things so we were able to do vacations. The middle one was in HS during Covid years. The youngest is super active so we haven’t had a summer vacation in years. We try to make the best of Spring break and we try to do weekend trips to places like NYC, Pittsburgh, and some camping.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2025 07:06     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:I'm lately feeling like winter break is a time all activities take a break and we can get away.


Op here: yeah I was looking at that this yr. Dh's work is closed for two weeks so he doesn't even need leave which is nice. I just wish it wasn't so expensive to travel then (not to mention the insanity of holiday travel plus weather issues )
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 23:00     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I hate the school schedule here. In my home country, there are longer breaks every season, so people can actually go on trips far away from home without being frazzled, but here, it seems like the only time we can take a relaxing two week vacation to see family in Asia or somewhere else is in the summer. The problem is that none of us want a tropical vacation at the hottest time of the year!


Generally there's two weeks off around Christmas/New Years.


In FCPS but MCPS usually only gets 1 week. We’re lucky this year and next because of how the days break we get more than a week.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 20:45     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
I'm lately feeling like winter break is a time all activities take a break and we can get away.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 18:17     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here: well this is all a bummer. We have been trying to hit up a lot of national parks but it is hard to do that in the winter or sometimes even in the spring.


You can make it work. We've shifted our vacations to late June and early July to accommodate fall sports. I actively discourage my teens from working any job that would interfere with our vacations. We're so busy during the school year that the vacations are important for everyone to spend uninterrupted time together. I'm not giving it up.


Your mileage may vary but my kid took an internship that severely interfered with our vacations, and also had a huge impact on their college admissions. Since they were passionate about it, I would never discourage this just for a vacation. We can adapt out vacations, or god forbid forego a longer one!

Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 17:52     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:Op here: well this is all a bummer. We have been trying to hit up a lot of national parks but it is hard to do that in the winter or sometimes even in the spring.


You can make it work. We've shifted our vacations to late June and early July to accommodate fall sports. I actively discourage my teens from working any job that would interfere with our vacations. We're so busy during the school year that the vacations are important for everyone to spend uninterrupted time together. I'm not giving it up.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 16:14     Subject: Summer vacations with high schoolers
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here: well this is all a bummer. We have been trying to hit up a lot of national parks but it is hard to do that in the winter or sometimes even in the spring.


Spring can be fine for the SW parks. We’ve had good experiences the past two Aprils.


DP here. Or it can snow in AZ at the end of March. It is dicey depends on when your break is and sheer luck.