Should Parents Vacation With Or Without Kids?

Every other year. That was our promise to each other. We'd go on vacation without the kids every other year.

Two years ago we went on a cruise to Bermuda. It was incredible. We kept reminding each other how different the vacation would have been with kids by our sides. There would be no relaxation by the pool. There would be a barrage of kid questions. We would be forced to pack our days with activities instead of just wasting away hours at a time sipping on drinks and watching the wake of the ship get swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean. The vacation would have been completely different. Not better. Not worse. Just much, much different.

We took a good old-fashioned Clark Griswold vacation to Califonia last summer. Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Hollywood Boulevard, the Ronald Reagan Library (OK, that was MY choice)...you get the idea. It was one incredible vacation that my kids won't ever forget (which makes me happy to my core...especially considering the amount of money we dropped on that vacation). Last summer's California vacation was the perfect family vacation, but it was just that...a family vacation.

This summer is supposed to be the year that my wife and I go on vacation alone again, but I'm getting pushback.

"We need to bring the kids with us while they want to be with us. It won't be long before they won't want to come on vacation with us anymore," my wife, Cyndi, said. While I don't disagree, that doesn't change the fact that I think we should go away alone. My wife also says that she won't enjoy the vacation as much without the kids because she'll constantly be worried about whether or not they are OK.

My wife and I lead very busy lives. Between work, basketball, guitar, school band concerts and a seemingly infinite amount of other kid-related activities...there are literally days that go by that we don't see each other. Sometimes multiple days will go by without us seeing each other. Granted, my unconventional work hours don't help that cause, but you'd think two people that live in the same house might bump into each other more often.

This is why I want to go away alone. I just want to strike a balance between kid vacations and couple vacations. I thought every other year seemed like a good place. Do you agree? Or do you agree with Cyndi that "kid time" is rapidly evaporating?