This is bogus! I have kids that are not yet in school, and this really sucks. I remember many times going on vacation in the late winter/ early spring with my parents while I was in elementary and high school. It was a great time, except for the pile of homework the teachers would give you before you left. No problem. My Dad could only get vacations in the "off-season", as all the people with more seniority took all the good days of the year. I'm sure that still applies to a lot of families. If I want to take my kids to Disney World, as a parent to them, I will make sure they get their homework caught up before they get back to school, and that they have a great time with the family. So if it's a funeral every year, so be it! I'll be sure to start a very large "virtual immediate family" so the kids have plenty of excuses. 