Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Long Car Rides + Young Kids = Cranky "How To Be Prepared"

As I mentioned in earlier posts I have 2 young kids (3 & 6) that love to go places but often hate the car ride. Now don't get me wrong short rides are no problem: going to the store, over to the gas station, & stopping by to see grandma and papa are always enjoyed. It's the other ones, the long ones, that they despise! Take for instance our 6 hour car ride every year to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The moment the word Vacation slips out of mommy or daddy's mouth they are ecstatic! When are we going? What can I bring? they could go on and on for hours.Then after weeks of preparations & packing the day finally arrives when we all pile in the car to leave and before we can even get out of the county it begins......."When will we get there?"........"How long does it take?"......and always..."I gotta go potty!". After many years of taking this trip I think we have succeeded in finding the best way to occupy young kids on long rides. You will still get the occasional "How close are we now?" question but for the most part you will have a very good ride.

1. First and foremost if you ever have the opportunity to drive in the evening TAKE IT! Often we will leave before the sun comes up or as it starts to set. This time of day is prime time for kids to sleep and the more they sleep the less they are bored.

2. Portable CD players or MP3 players, if you can afford them and your kids are big enough to use them. Our youngest was finally able to use one this year and it was a real treat for her. We found head phones that were comfortable on their ears and when they were not sleeping they mostly listened to music and looked out the window at the scenery.

3. A clipboard with paper, pencil, and colored pencils. Notice how color crayons didn't make the list here. It is up to you but we found in the past that crayon can not only rub off on seats easily but also melt in the sun. Fair warning for all long trip takers! :)

4. A hand full of easy to read story books or picture books. Although you may want to make sure your child is not easily affected my motion sickness.

5. Lastly, hand held video games or a portable dvd player. These we haven't utilized yet. The girls are still a bit young for hand held games and we have been trying to instill upon them that TV is not always the answer to boredom.

So there is our sanity saving list to all those in need. I hope it will be of use to many! What ever you do don't leave unprepared.

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