Forced Family Fun

Adj.

1. Doing an activity with your family that you most likely did not want to partake in.

"It is time for some forced family fun!"

Not entirely sure if the Inglish fam coined this term or we just stumbled upon the saying throughout the years, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of times my brother and I have heard these words uttered from my mom’s mouth.

Throughout my childhood, I have been blessed with the opportunity to go on a vacation every summer. In my middle school years we went to Colorado for the summer and usually stayed there for months on end. As I got older, the vacations got shorter and the destinations began to change.

However, those weren’t the only things that changed. As the years progressed so did the individual personalities of each family member. Now instead of doing what mom picked and chose for each and every second of that day, my dad, brother and myself all had different opinions on how to spend our time.

You’d think we would just be able to find an easy compromise. But believe me, with these diverse personalities, come very stubborn opinions… and that’s when the “forced family fun” takes action.

For a better understanding let me explain each member of my family in a sentence:

Dad: “I have a migraine, when’s dinner?”

Mom: “We don’t have time to eat, let’s go on a second run around the canyon!”

Bro: “I just want to lay down and eat some food.”

Me: “Can we please just go see the sunset so I can get a picture for my Instagram?"

Okay, now that you have a little more insight into the fambam I will try my best to solicit some tips on how to survive some Forced Family Fun.

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The first couple of days will be the best: cherish them. Everyone is excited to begin the adventure, brother is still in good spirits and mom is not stressed out.

When the going gets tough, make some jokes. My brother has the best humor. Seriously, I don’t know where he gets it, because no one else in our family is funny. If you ask him where he got it he’ll just say, “I don’t really know, but you guys laugh at everything.”

Bonus: there are some funny, quotable YouTube vids to get the laughs started. Check this out:

Agreement is not always necessary, but attitude determines everything. Okay, my brother and dad are low on the scale for this one. In their defense though, my mom and I chose some really weird things to do (e.g. thrift shopping, chasing some lightning, and destination running). The boys don’t always appreciate these outings, but we make them come along anyway… they have gotten a little better at the attitude thing.

Choose your photo-ops wisely. My brother absolutely hates pictures, so if I front load all the brother/sister pics, I won’t get the ones you really care about at the end.

Always Pack Snacks. Hungry people aren’t fun people. Grab some trail mix and goldfish before you head out the door.

Make time for naps and relaxation. I don’t know about other family vacations, but the Inglish family goes 110% all the time. It has become more and more important for family dynamics and all around happiness for the duration of these trips, that we have learned to prioritize nap time.

Have a phone charger. This one is especially important for me and my brother. Snapchat stories are fun and we want the world to know where we are; the world cannot know if our phones are dead.

At the end of the day, the memories made on these trips are priceless. Hotels like the “Little America,” views like the Grand Canyon, and hikes up steep rocks just to see the sunset are experiences I wouldn’t trade for anything. And experiencing them with my family, is what makes them the greatest.