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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Teenagers and Older children
Midwinter vacation
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Jan 05 2017, 12:24 pm
Laiya wrote:
You can also maximize points by using certain cards for the items that that card gives more points for, take advantage of sign up bonuses, etc.


Understood. But if someone is not making ends meet that money should be going towards life expenses including tuition.
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lifesagift




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 05 2017, 8:00 pm
Camelback isn't very far, nice experience, and since ski tickets are included in your stay, it shouldn't be crazy expensive either, around $300 I think, and that includes several activities To keep your whole family entertained including skiing/tubing, water park, rope course...
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momX4




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 05 2017, 8:21 pm
amother wrote:
Even going to Great Wolf Lodge or one of the other resorts local to NYC can be expensive. I could never figure out how so many people I know do it. Especially the ones I know get tuition breaks. Whatever! People do what they want to do and have different priorities from mine.
My issue is the timing of yeshiva vacation week. Back in the day, yeshiva vacation was at the same time as x-mas vacation--when parents who were public school teachers had off. How nice to have vacation the same time as your kids! And now, yeshiva vacation is 3 weeks later. And why? So if people do go to Florida, they don't have to be there at the same time as the non-Jews? So the lines at Disney World will be shorter? I just don't get it. My husband works for the Dept. of Education and my company is closed between x-mas and New Years. So there's never a chance of either one of us taking off another week so soon after our holiday break. My kids just stay home.


Friends get together and get a group rate to Great Wolf or Kalahari for very cheap.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 6:03 am
Wow. I'm so glad we didn't feel this pressure. (My kids can PM me if they felt deprived.) We went bowling, skating, did some group activity that the PTA might have arranged (for like $10 a person), went to libraries and museums, and of course, started on some serious pre-Pesach decluttering.
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 6:51 am
Oh my.
We're going to my in laws for Shabbos over midwinter vacation. (My kids get a "long weekend" and luckily this year all my kids' schools get the same one!) They live about a 2 hour drive away and we can't really get there in the winter (edited: regular winter friday) when shabbos is early and the kids don't get home till after 1 pm. Maybe I'll take them to the mall on Sunday (they have their chanukah gelt from their grandparents if they want to buy anything)

What's hard is that one of my kids (b"h not all) ended up in a class of kids who "all" go away. I thought the child was exaggerating but no, we went through the class list, last year more than half went to Florida and most of the rest to more local places like ski vacations etc... There were another two who did "nothing" (Out of 29). My kid went to visit grandparents and the other kids were talking about their grand trips. I felt really bad for the kid but nothing I could do.
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amother
Lavender


 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 7:09 am
amother wrote:
Understood. But if someone is not making ends meet that money should be going towards life expenses including tuition.


Agree. Any points that you can use for airline miles/hotel stays, can be given to u instead as cash back. Yes it's for a lower value but if you're claiming to be poor you take all the money you can get.
We use the credit card for everything and accumulate a lot of points/miles. When we get enough points we get the cash back option and apply it towards that bill. Or even better, we sell it for alot of mony. Although I think the companies don't really allow it.
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 7:10 am
Actually I think spending time with family over midwinter vacation is wonderful. My girls love getting together with their cousins, over going to some new place....on Chol Hamoed, my sisters and I often chose a place that is accessible to all of us in the greater NY metro area and go together - and it is the highlight of all trips. The venue is less important than the people who show up!

DH's extended family has a Shabbos family reunion this year (they don't do it every year) and my kids are so excited for it. It does not coincide with mid-winter for us, so it's going to have to be on top of mid-winter plans.....of which, my teens and my 8 year old DD don't have the same vacation time.

My pet peeve: I wish all the Lakewood schools (at least - even all the NY/NJ schools, would be even better!) would have mid-winter vacation at the same time. It's so tough on my work schedule to have to take multiple days off for different kids.....
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debsey




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 9:00 am
Chayalle wrote:
I'm not the OP but I actually like thw Washington DC idea....not so many hours from Lakewood. Thanks saw....I wonder if that's something I could pull off...worth looking into. If anyone has done that, please post. Would love to know about parking, itinerary, etc....


Just in general, when my kids tell me "everybody" is doing it, I quote Mrs. Twerski - "Rabbi Everybody doesn't pasken our shailos". I also ask them to name ten "everybody's!" usually, it's one or two kids.

I don't like this pressure to go on a major trip. I prefer day trips, but I did do Washington DC one year. I got a groupon for a really cheap motel room, and we did two days, one night in Washington. It was really fun! Many of the Smithsonian museums are free, and we went to the more wacky exhibits - like we saw Julia Child's kitchen and the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

Kosher food is relatively easy to find, as are minyanim. It's not as crowded as it is in the spring when the cherry trees on the mall are in bloom, but there's still plenty to hold kids' interest.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 9:10 am
Chayalle wrote:


My pet peeve: I wish all the Lakewood schools (at least - even all the NY/NJ schools, would be even better!) would have mid-winter vacation at the same time. It's so tough on my work schedule to have to take multiple days off for different kids.....


The modern orthodox schools have standardized to have "yeshiva week" based on the board of Jewish education schedule. It's really helpful for families.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 9:29 am
saw50st8 wrote:
The modern orthodox schools have standardized to have "yeshiva week" based on the board of Jewish education schedule. It's really helpful for families.


Not all of them. Unfortunately.

Anon to protect where my kids are.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 10:41 am
amother wrote:
Not all of them. Unfortunately.

Anon to protect where my kids are.


All my local schools do. I know there are some schools (maybe Heschel?) that still give x-mas week.

Is their vacation very far off from yeshiva week? Or is it x-mas week?
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 06 2017, 11:22 am
saw50st8 wrote:
All my local schools do. I know there are some schools (maybe Heschel?) that still give x-mas week.

Is their vacation very far off from yeshiva week? Or is it x-mas week?


There is no one "yeshiva week" in my area. Some schools give the second week of January, others the third. Some "commumityā€¯ or non-Orthodox day schools give the last week of December.

ETA - sorry, responded to the wrong post.
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