| With the high price of gasoline, are you thinking of | | | | entertaining event. 4. Consider this time as a week of |
| canceling your vacation trip? This summer more and | | | | weekends. Have fun with your family - play board |
| more Sandwiched Boomers are reducing their carbon | | | | games together, make popcorn and rent classic |
| footprint by taking "staycations" with their families. | | | | movies, go to the park for a pick-up basketball |
| Why drive to a resort when there are community | | | | game, take in a concert under the stars, get bleacher |
| swimming pools around the corner? Why plan a | | | | tickets for a baseball game, go for family bike rides |
| remote getaway when you can relax in the beauty | | | | or long walks in the neighborhood, splash each other |
| and serenity near you? You don't need to travel to | | | | in the community pool. Have a barbeque and let each |
| the city for excitement when you can create your | | | | family member cook or prepare a different part of |
| own at home. Gasoline prices are edging toward five | | | | the menu. Plan your own Olympics competition with |
| dollars a gallon and the hassle and expense of air | | | | events appropriate for your children's ages. 5. Explore |
| travel is increasing. Families saddled with the economic | | | | your immediate surroundings and discover something |
| and emotional costs of caring for growing children | | | | new. Take a city bus tour and see the sights that |
| and aging parents are saving money and energy by | | | | you've never noticed before. Expand your horizons |
| vacationing at home this year. But how to make it a | | | | and those of your family members. Visit a museum |
| real vacation and not one long list of chores and | | | | near you - often they offer entrance fee free days |
| obligations? When you follow these tips, you'll return | | | | or discounts for local patrons. Participate together in a |
| from your staycation refreshed, recharged and | | | | creative activity like ceramic painting or a mini-course |
| reconnected to your family: 1. Make planning for your | | | | in photography at the community center. Visit the |
| staycation a part of the process of reconnection | | | | campus of a local college and wander through the |
| that usually comes about on vacation. Set aside time | | | | library. You may uncover an interest you never |
| to have a family meeting and encourage everyone to | | | | realized you had. 6. Remember to include the |
| talk about what activities they want to include. This | | | | universal vacation ritual - take lots of photos and |
| preparation will give you all a better understanding | | | | videos to share with your friends. Looking at the |
| and appreciation of each other. And you can reduce | | | | pictures of your family's smiling faces will enhance |
| the tension and arguments that might ensue later | | | | your memories of the special times you spent |
| about what you were going to do together. 2. When | | | | together. Continue the feelings of togetherness by |
| your staycation begins, take a complete break from | | | | creating an album commemorating your first family |
| all work. Don't check your job-related emails or call in | | | | staycation. The decision to spend your vacation at |
| for updates about projects. This is your free time so | | | | home this summer can deepen the bonds and |
| resist home-related chores as well. Leave the beds | | | | transform your family. Without either the tension |
| unmade or arrange for someone to come in and | | | | that travel creates or the stress of considerable |
| clean so that you won't be temped to work around | | | | expenditures in this uncertain economy, you will find |
| the house. Do set aside time for any home activities | | | | that the time socializing with family this year is more |
| you enjoy for relaxation - gardening or scrap | | | | relaxing than ever. And as a Sandwiched Boomer |
| booking, for example. 3. Act as you would on a | | | | with so many responsibilities, you deserve this rest |
| vacation away from home. Go to bed and get up | | | | and respite. Your staycation can help carry you |
| when you want - don't set your alarm clock. Let the | | | | through the year ahead with your enriched family |
| kids stay up past their bedtime if you are doing | | | | relationships. So instead of "bon voyage," it's "bonnes |
| something out of the ordinary. Enjoy a special | | | | vacances a la maison!" © 2008, Her Mentor |
| breakfast out one day. Relax in the sun and read a | | | | Center |
| page-turner or amusing beach book. Exercise in ways | | | | Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. |
| that aren't easy while you are working - a morning | | | | are founders of a website for midlife women and a |
| tennis or golf game, a midday horseback ride through | | | | Blog for the Sandwich Generation. They are authors |
| the countryside, a leisurely hike at sunset. Splurge on | | | | of a forthcoming book about Baby Boomers and |
| a night out at a fancy restaurant or for tickets to an | | | | family relationships. |