You expected to treat your family to a nice, peaceful vacation. Instead on the road, all you can hear is the rap and rock music from your teenagers favorite station on the radio and the great lessons of Barney or Elmo from your younger child's video. When you finally get there, all you want to do is scream, "WHY ME?!" With a little planning and preparation, you will be able to take a vacation and enjoy your family at the same time.

If you are going to successfully dwell in the same place with your other family members personalities for a couple of hours or days, a few investments need to be made to keep your sanity. Ipods are a little costly, but can keep your teenager entertained for long periods of time and free up the radio for your personal enjoyment. It can be an early Christmas or birthday present for your teen, considering that they probably want one already. If an Ipod is just too make cash to spend at the time, you might want to consider buying an MP3 player or cd player and their favorite CDs. Of course, do not forget the extra batteries/charger and headphones. An Ipod or CD player can also keep your small child entertained if they have their favorite music or a book recording to listen to. Another thing to consider if your car does not come equipped with a television, is to buy a devise such as VideoNow. VideoNow is kid friendly and comes with a variety of their favorite shows to watch. They are also not going to make you go bankrupt. Along with entertaining electronic devises, pack coloring books, reading books, toys, and other activities to keep your children entertained.

To make sure everyone is comfortable, bring along plenty of pillows and blankets. The more comfortable your kids are, the less whining you hear. Blankets and pillows will also make it easy for them to fall asleep, which will make the trip even faster.

While planning your route to your vacation spot, remember to include bathroom stops every half and hour to an hour. Small children tend to have small bladders and less of an ability to "hold it". Instead of wasting a lot of money on food and drinks, it is smart to pack a cooler with waters and juice as well as snacks. Keep in mind, the more sugar you give your teenager and children, the more hyper and antsy they will be on the way.

Family vacations can be a nightmare with spastic children and grumpy teenagers. However, with some planning ahead and smart packing of fun things to do, your vacation can be a breeze. The point of this vacation is to get away from everyday life and enjoy your family. So when you're about to loose your cool with your children, do not forget to enjoy them.