One key change I've noticed since my son inched closer to age 13 (less than one month away, and counting) is that it takes a real intervention in order to get one-on-one time with him.

We're on vacation this week. You might laugh at us for vacationing on the beach in Broward County, but leave this website, go look up the price of four airplane tickets or the tab for gas if we were to go on a road trip, and then come back and tell me what a great idea a vacation in Deerfield Beach is.

(Actually, I'm sitting in my kitchen in Plantation right now. If you're on a local vacation, you can come home and grab the things you forgot. Or run home to get online for a bit.)

Today we sent both kids to camp so we could have time without them, for probably the first time in many years. Granted we're spending the time reading our emails, but still, it's peaceful!

But the quality time we've had with the kids this week by snatching them out of the home, and transporting them a mere 20 minutes away, is amazing.

Recently we took another week off for a Fort Lauderdale beachfront vacation. Again, that's all it takes to get some great time with the kids.

At home, kids and parents are distracted constantly. And a pre-teen like Creed will be on his cell phone, at a friends' house, having friends over or chatting on his MySpace page.

Yank them away to a local hotel, leave their cell phone at home, and you have instant parent-child bonding.

Creed and I took a long walk on the beach Sunday night and had our longest conversation in months. He and Lily, 6, have been forced to play together for the first time in months. We all had to sleep together in one big bed.

It's like we're a family! It's been great!

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