Back to the topic at hand. Our favorite vacations are snow skiing and Disney Cruise. We also like the lake.

There are a few places I would like to go. I need to start making a list and start checking them off. I am in a new saving mind set. I want to build up our vacation fund and start going places.

Does your 7 year old see anyone drinking without getting drunk? My now 18 yo did not want anyone drinking around him when he was younger because a situation very similar to yours. Since I am in the only person in my house who drinks, I would buy a 6 pack. Leave in the refrigerator, drink one with dinner every now again and again. It would sometime take 2 to 3 months go through a six pack but it was worth it.

We would have many conversations about drinking to an excess and having an occasional beer/glass of wine, whatever. Now that he is older he has stated that he was glad that he got to see this because in his mind if you drank you had to be drunk, which we know is not the case.

It is very important that we teach our children a healthy respect for alcohol. You can choose to never touch the stuff if you want but it is not bad for everyone.

The fact that he “disapproves” wouldn’t stop me from going to a favorite restaurant — point out that most restaurants serve alcohol in some form and that alcohol is an acceptable choice for adults who are able to drink responsibly. You might want to explain that ANYTHING taken in excess is bad for you — including food. People who eat too much food are overweight and put their health in danger, but being around fat people eating probably doesn’t bother him. Also point out that if you limited your dining choices to only restaurants that don’t serve alcohol, you’d be spending a lot of time at fast food places, which isn’t necessarily healthy, either.

One thing I do recommend for a young family is the National Park Service’s Passport — we’ve had so much fun with that! The kids have hung on to theirs (they each have one) for almost 12 years, and it’s amazing how many passport “stamps” we’ve obtained around the country! Good grief, you can get over 20 stamps just in D.C. alone!) The kids loved collecting them, and in our search for new stamps, we often visited places that we would have missed — such as the Edgar Alan Poe museum in Philadelphia. The kids still marvel at that place — the ranger was a gem! And it’s fun to look back on them, seeing the dates that we’ve visited, everywhere from Acadia to Yellowstone, and LOTS of places in-between. (Ironically, one that we HAVEN’T gotten is Chattahoochee National Forest . . .?!)

JJ: 18 days and counting, for me. So far, so good — she’s excited, and I’m excited for her. Keep in mind, though, that this isn’t my first time delivering a child to college. When I took my son two years ago, it was a day long drive, just me and my son, as my husband was forced to be out-of-town on a critical project. The next morning, we had a narrow window of time to get his stuff into his room before he had to report for freshman camp with a hundred other new freshmen, before the rest of the freshman arrived three days later. We finished throwing stuff in his room, dragged out to the garage, and stood there staring at each other — we both started crying, so you have this 6′3″ young man and a 5′4″ mom hugging and crying in the parking garage. I told him I was excited for him, and proud of all the work he had put in to get this opportunity — and then told him to enjoy the hell out of all the possibilities he had in front of him. On the way home, I had to stop once, to finish crying over my lunch :-) And again, to deal with a flat tire . . . gah!

The second year, we drove up and had a more leisurely time to move into the dorm — we were helping unpack with a cute little blonde in an even smaller black dress appeared in the doorway, cooing, “Are you ready for dinner yet?” I beat a hasty retreat, and I’m pretty darn sure he didn’t shed any tears to see us go!! Oh, what a difference a year makes!

My daughter is in an all-girl dorm (to her dismay and my secret delight!), but I’ve heard horror stories of roommates who unceremoniously ejected their roommate on weekends in favor of a boyfriend spending the night — luckily, her roommate doesn’t seem to be the amorous type! My daughter is more worried about me, oddly — “What are you going to DO, Mom?” And is not reassured by my Cheshire Cat grin when I say, “ANYTHING I want, honey!” I have several projects in mind — this is as much an adventure for me as it is for her — we’re both starting new phases of our lives! And it’s not as though she won’t be staying in touch frequently, so I don’t really feel like I’m losing her. I’m looking forward to traveling more with my husband in his work, and perhaps getting up to see my parents more frequently, as they are starting to experience health issues.

jct, I’ve always had my son’s password, to take care of scholarship assignments and clean up housing bills, etc. I don’t look at his email, but he knows I have looked at his grades. As I told him, “When you are self-supporting and are handling all the finances yourself, I won’t NEED your password — until then . . .” No complaints on his part — at least, none verbalized . . . :-D

Theresa, I hope it works out that you can go to the wedding. Can you take the kids? Arrange a babysitter at the hotel for the day of the wedding, if you need to, or ask if there’s a neighborhood teenager who wants to make some money. We’ve used hotel babysitters before, and have always had good luck. A little expensive, but worth it!