At our house, this is called triple F. Time hanging out as a family, which gets harder to do as your children get older.
The latest episode of The Goldbergs highlighted their version of triple F. The mom wanted the entire family to take a road trip (think National Lampoon’s Family Vacation) to Disneyland. The children reluctantly agree, but the trip does not goes as planned.
I could not help but think about our own family Clark Griswold. The husband is a vacation task master, much like the mom in the episode. Both have the best intentions… for their family to have the most amazing time together. But sometimes it can feel forced. I am grateful that the husband is like Beverly in that he forges on, regardless of whether or not the rest of the family is on board. And like the rest of the family in season 7, episode 1, I hope that our children look back on our triple F and have good memories.
What do you to stay connected during the teen years? It gets more challenging for sure, but there are still fun memories to make!