You want to connect with your teens and modern life is not making it easy. Parental obstacles have always included peers and extra curricular activities, but now the screen rivals them all. Whether your teens are texting, tweeting, listening to music, watching videos or playing games, they're plugged in - tight. It's time to pull the plug.

Before your teens rage in protest, tell them to relax. You have three fun family togetherness options that gently ease the family towards a completely unplugged adventure.

• The first family fun option is designed to ease into family togetherness time and makes homework a fun family affair.

• The second option includes some screen time: interactive family games such as a family karaoke contest or a dance competition that will get even dad grooving, and an even lower-key variation includes a family movie and pizza party.

• The final option is going cold turkey, no screens involved, just pure adventure and family fun.

If you can't beat them, join them

The easiest way to make time for your teens (and catch up on a little work yourself) is to suggest a night at the "office"� with your family. This means a trip to your favorite coffee shop with everyone armed with his or her own project (homework).

My teens and I gather in a favorite window booth and spread out our computers and books. I purchase hot drinks all around and we happily sit together for over an hour and work on our projects, occasionally glancing up to ask for help or to share something humorous with the table. My teens love this once a week ritual. We bond and get a little work done at the same time. Even my 6-year-old joins us. She reads or draws.

Share the screen

If it is cold and wet outside and the family is game for inside fun, challenge your teens to an interactive karaoke or dance competition. Let your teens choose the song. You'll be surprised at how much your kids will enjoy kicking your butt on the dance floor. Or, if your family is more musical than coordinated, surprise your teens with a faultless rendition of one of their favorite songs during a home karaoke competition party.

If your entire crew is in the mood for a more low-key evening in, have your teens select a movie and create a family movie and pizza party. Enjoy the movie together (you can set limits on movie rating) while eating pizza and then indulge in a make-your-own-sundae bar for dessert.

Play electronic free!

For the more adventurous (once your teens have accepted the idea of family time), sign the entire family up for a weekend sports class. Choose something slightly exotic and out of your box. Try tennis, scuba diving, rock climbing, snowboarding, snowshoeing or sailing - whatever you're brave enough to attempt.

A day on the lake spent learning to sail is an incredible way to bond. Everyone will have at least one skill that they excel at, whether it's memorizing the various sailing knots, steering the boat or a fast recovery after purposely tipping the boat. When all of the family members are novices, it's fun to learn a skill together.

You can make family adventure weekends a regular part of the familial routine. Try booking off the last Saturday of each month for a new family activity. Let each member of your family take turns choosing the Saturday adventure (you can set budget and time limits).

Even if it happens only once a week, defying the modern trend and unplugging your family for a few hours, will leave everyone happier and more connected.

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Before you attempt a mid-flight leap out the plane emergency exit door, take a deep breath and realize you're not alone. Parents flying across the globe have been in your economy seat.

Meet these four flight risks head-on.

The diaper explosion

Be prepared. Even when the flight is short, bring more diapers and wipes than you think you could possibly need and several changes of clothes. It's often those short flights when you discover just how much your baby's bowels can hold. Also, bring an extra emergency change of clothes for yourself. When you least expect it, that diaper can and will leak poop all over your new wool pants.

The potty trained toddler

Yes, your toddler is experienced at using the toilet. However, there will be unexpected turbulence and that seatbelt sign will go on and stay on for longer than your toddler's bladder can take. If you think you can sneak her to the washroom before she wets the seat, think again. Flight attendants don't take kindly to persons in the isle during turbulence.

Put a pull-up or diaper on your potty-trained toddlers. Even on short flights, if there's turbulence, your toddler will not be allowed to access a toilet. A wet seat (for the remainder of the flight) is no fun. For those proud toddlers with attitude (the ones who refuse to where a pull-up under all circumstances) use a sanitary pad inside their underpants.

My daughter developed a fear of flying after she was refused access to the toilet during a turbulent flight. No amount of reassurance could convince her to wear a pull-up, yet she was terrified she'd not be allowed to use the toilet and would wet her pants.

I solved the problem by using a sanitary pad inside her underpants. It was more of a psychological comfort to her - to know that in an emergency, the sanitary pad would keep her from wetting her seat. I told her the pad was designed to help prevent adults from wetting their pants if they had an emergency and she was okay with that.

The hairy beast beside you

If you're seated beside someone that absolutely terrifies your baby or toddler (for no good reason other than physical appearance) don't be afraid to ask the flight attendant to move you. It's no secret that young children are often frightened by adults whose looks they are unaccustomed to. A large man with a bushy beard and sunglasses is sometimes all it takes to frighten a child and make them refuse to sit in their plane seat.

My daughter (under age two and still allowed to sit on my lap for a flight) was so terrified by the large man beside me that she absolutely refused to sit on my lap. She became hysterical anytime I attempted to hold her in take off position (as her leg would touch the man). The flight attendant allowed us to switch seats. My daughter was fine once she was seated next to a woman.

The ear drum rupture

Little ears don't fly well. Landing is the worst. I've had a toddler scream in inconsolable hysterics for the entire hour-long descent. It turned out her eardrum had ruptured.

You can't control air pressure, but you can do your best to prevent inconsolable pain. My best-tested tip involves using both decongestant and pain control on all flights with a toddler with even a trace of the sniffles (no matter how long or how short the flight). If the flight is long, make sure to supply a dose of decongestant and pain control (I like ibuprofen as it helps with inflamed ear channels too) about a half an hour before take off and landing.

To aid with the air pressure on the eardrum (for toddlers too young to chew gum) have your child suck on a lolly-pop during take off and landing. Sometimes the landing can seem very long, so be sure to bring enough lolly-pops to last for the entire take off and landing.

With lolly-pops, bottoms and ears attended to, you can breath a sigh of relief. Take a moment to glance over at the single adult snoozing peacefully in the seat across the isle. Okay, back to reality ... that is not ever going to be you this flight. Remember, if all else fails, accept the kindness of strangers. I've had strangers on fights offer extra diapers, a change of clothing, a jar of baby food and even to hold my baby while I took my toddler to the toilet.

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