There are two opposite schools of thought.

First, give your children every type of lesson that is available! Piano and guitar lessons, ballet and modern dance, computer, French, painting, karate and gymnastics are only some activities to which we enroll our pre-teen children. Taking them on trips to exotic and interesting places also fits into this category. Unfortunately they become jaded and declare "Been there...done that" by the time they are 13

Second choice is to leave them alone! Don't push them into anything! Let them find their own interests and let them pursue the areas that they want to follow. If they ask for lessons, then and only then, enroll them in that particular course.

But what does a 7-year-old know about anything?

Shouldn't a parent make these decisions?

Now that my three children are all over 30 and stepping out into the world, I have noticed they are visiting places on their own that Lorraine and I took them to as children. They do have vague and sometimes even good remembrances of these places.

Would it have been better if they visited these places on their own, as adults, and enjoyed a fresh experience untainted by parents?

The answer - I don't know!

The exact opposite is now occurring. As college students, our children studied in England and Italy. We traveled to these places to visit them. After college they got jobs all over the United States. We also traveled to those places to see them. When they got married and settled down, we again traveled to see them.

I repeat, "Have kids, and see the world!"

Places like the West Village, the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Chelsea, Battery Park, Union Square, Park Avenue, and the East Side are all places I have learned about in depth by visiting my offspring who were living there.

They have moved all over the United States. We pack our bags and visit them in Madison, WI; Ithaca, NY; Boston and Amherst, MA; Chappaqua, NY; and San Diego, CA.

The situation is reversed. They are taking me to faraway places. I will let you in on a little secret.

I love it!