I'm a mother of three, (preeteen and 2 teens) and i was wondering what i should do with my children, and equally childlike, husband. we are going to rome and we have conflicts. my middle girl lives for art and sculpture types and my older son is less of an artsy man. My other daughter is young so i don't know that she will be up to all the art and i don't know that she could fully appriciate its place in Romes history; I, myself, am up to anything from Da Vinci to foods. here's what I ask of you, what can we do that can satisfy all of us? please leave a message!

Gelato heals all wounds.

Hopefully someone else can add more.

The ancient monuments in Rome will fascinate all the family, so see the major sights and sites together.

Then once or twice during your stay you and your daughter could go off on your own and visit some museums (I loved the Barberini Palace) and enjoy them while your husband does something else with the other two. Take a camera each so you don't feel you have missed out on too much. There's plenty for younger children to do - looking for the bees on the fountains, finding the elephant near the Pantheon for example.

I'm sure you can come to some agreement or compromise here so no-one misses out, nor has to be bored stiff. I have found that insisting reluctant men/children accompany me to museums can make for a miserable time for everyone.

Let the kids get involved in the planning with guidebooks, maps etc. Then everyone can suggest their own must-sees, and learn something about everyone else's.

The idea about separating into groups for some activities is excellent. You won't all want to do the same things all the time. Maybe your husband can take your son to a sporting event (no idea what Rome offers - a football (soccer) match, or horse- or car- racing, perhaps?).

Ruth is right on. You can't plan everything for everyone. Let the kids and your husband research on the internet and books and sometimes go in different directions. Believe me it works and it takes a lot of stress off of you.

we have taken several trips abroad with our three children. having them make a list of the top 5-7 things they want to do is helpful. then, we rotate taking a turn with each one's choices, including ours.

Ruth is right..give some of the ownership of the trip to your brood. They will start reading which will up the excitement bar for them. I remember I was heading into London for a day with one of my kids..he was 13 and at the "whatever stage". I handed him a guide book and said choose or I will choose. Much to my surprize and delight he planned a great day. Not only was it interesting but he had even mapped out tube stops and an itinerary so we didn't back track or waste time with needless travel.

When you finish sightseeing take the kids to Porta Portese, the street market (antiques, clothes bric-a-brac) on sunday. That's fun as is Via Sannio market which is near San Giovanni and sells clothes really cheap. In the evening head for the pizzerias and restaurants in Testaccio. It'll give them a taste of the real Rome!

Agree with some of the others--the various family members should be able to go off either alone (except the preteen) or in twos or threes depending on their interests without any particular problems.

Our trip was wonderful because we hired tour guides for several days (we went through Vatican Tours and Beyond, but I understand Context and others are also good). The days without guides were spent wandering around and fun, but not as much fun. I think kids need a bit of structure. We knew what time we would be meeting the guide and how many hours we would be on foot, afterwards we were too tired to be bored and spent time eating and talking about the day. Our teens were not into art, but the guides gave them art history lessons that really changed their lives.

Our trip was wonderful because we hired tour guides for several days (we went through Vatican Tours and Beyond, but I understand Context and others are also good). The days without guides were spent wandering around and fun, but not as much fun. I think kids need a bit of structure. We knew what time we would be meeting the guide and how many hours we would be on foot, afterwards we were too tired to be bored and spent time talking about the day. Our teens were not into art or history, but the guides gave them art & history lessons that really changed their lives.