Surviving that in-law vacation

Sure, you love your relatives — even your in-laws. You not only want to spend all your holidays with them, but all your weekends and vacation days, too.

You are, of course, a sick psycho. The rest of us simply try to endure such occasions.

Last summer, I discovered that a family vacation needn’t be misery. I spent a week with my in-laws at a beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and I not only survived it — I enjoyed it. Here are a few tips for getting through such an experience.

Final thoughts: lost in Orlando

OK, so at what age does the little lad outgrow the Magic Kingdom? It can’t be too soon for the devoted daddy here. After all, how many Teacup rides can you take? On top of that, I found out the hard way that you can’t self-medicate at the Kingdom: It remains one of the few parks that doesn’t serve beer.

Oh, and another thing: Save yourself some time and cash and avoid the “Lunch with an Astronaut” event at NASA. I coughed up the dough to have the family do an “intimate” lunch that turned out to be a non-event. We thought we’d be getting some insight into the entire otherworldly experience — what it’s like to be one with the cosmos. We thought we’d get some idea of what it takes to be the best of the best — how much intellectual and physical work it takes to qualify as a hired explorer in space. Something like Jack Nicholson’s great scene in “Terms of Endearment,” when he explained what it was really like to be in space

We were idiots, clearly. When asked (often) how he prepared to become an astronaut, our speaker essentially said: “Eat your vegetables. Do your homework. Listen to Mom and Dad.”

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For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Wow. Thanks. We had forgotten what it’s like to be spoken to like a 3-year-old.

Den Bart is an occasional contributor to Tripso.