Counseling Corner Letter for 1/9

`Dear Brain and Steele,

I'm writing you because of a problem I'm having with my son.  He is 10, and has one younger sister.  Last year, over spring break, our entire family had a fun weekend trip planned.  But my daughter got sick, so my wife said she'd stay home with her, and I could take our son on the trip.  We wouldn't be out the hotel money, and some other things we had pre-purchased.

My son was super excited!  A trip with just his dad.  We went, and needless to say, had a great time together.  That's where the problems now begins.  Our family hasn't been on a vacation since that little trip.  We're trying to plan something for 2014 for all of us, but HE thinks that he and I should go on another trip, just the two of us.  I've tried to explain to him that to be fair to everyone else in our family, we need to go somewhere together.  He wants none of it.  I've tried planning fun day long activities, but he wants another weekend trip that I just can't afford right now.

What do I do?  He's 10, shouldn't he understand this situation better than he's letting on?  He throws a fit whenever we talk about the family vacation, and his demanding attitude is getting old.  I'd love to hear from parents who have gone through something similar.

Thanks,

Dad in the Dumps