I have a lot of bad memories about my parents fighting when I was a kid. They never got violent with one another. There wasn’t any crazy abuse that burned its way into my brain. It’s just that they yelled all of the time. They never hid their fights from us kids. And that’s made me convinced of the importance of doing your arguing with your spouse when your kids aren’t around.

We used to take a family vacation in Canada every year. All that I remember about those vacations to Canada is that my parents would fight about them for weeks before we actually went. Canada is an amazing place and there are many beautiful things to see. I barely remember any of them but I remember those familial battles. I wish that my parents had hid their fighting so I could have had better memories of Canada.

I’m not saying that you should sugar coat life for your kids. I’m not saying they should never see you disagree. But if you can’t contain yourself from having a full-on fight with your spouse then at least contain it to a time and place when you’re kids aren’t around. You really don’t want them remembering those times.

Technorati Tags: family vacation canada, vacations to canada