How often does the phrase, “When we were kids, we used to be able to …” come up in conversations with your friends about parenting? In our family, we recall with fondness such now-illegal activities as sleeping on the floor in the back of a family van, riding in the bed of our neighbor’s flatbed truck, and – especially memorable to me – sitting in the middle front seat of my grandmother’s Oldsmobile as we ran errands together. Two...

When we first announced to friends that we were embarking on a month-long family road trip, most had the same reaction: “31 days in a car with two kids?!” Admittedly, we also questioned whether we could do it. But for my wife and me, sharing moments with our two children trumps other activities, so the opportunity to use our time off to help them build new memories was a no-brainer. My wife has often referred to our 6,395-mile journey as our...