Spring break has always been a source of stress for me.
When I was in college, the stress came from never having enough money to do the college thing: head somewhere sunny and warm so I could dance on the beach and drink until I puked.
When the kids were younger, the stress came from planning a vacation that would be fun for the kids, but still feel like a vacation for me. In other words, something more interesting than chasing kids around an indoor waterpark.
Now that my kids are teens, the stress comes from trying to find a destination that will interest them enough so they join us willingly on our trek rather than sitting in the back seat, tuned into their iPods and scowling all the way.
The key to their happiness seems to be traveling with friends. So this spring, the stress likely will come from choosing which friends will join us on our road trip. The friend most likely to be available for my daughter is not a girl I would want to spend a week with. So I will urge her to consider another girl, taking the chance that girl's mom will renege on the deal at the last minute (as she has in the past).
No matter how stressful it feels, I will continue to push for the annual spring break vacation. Here in Chicago, we see spring, quite literally, as a rebirth. I would never miss the change to celebrate that with my kids.
Even if they would rather be celebrating some other way in some other place with some other person
