road trip tips?
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road trip tips?
| Mon, 05-17-2004 - 12:25pm |
i'm an old hand at plane trips, they don't stress me out at all, but i'm going to see my dad next week (it's an 8 hour drive) and i have no idea what to do to make it there sane and with the kids all in one peice! do you guys think i should travel at night? i'm thinking maybe that is better because then they might sleep the whole way, but then again they might not, and then i would have two babies up till midnight. ackk! any ideas?
clarity
clarity


If you are traveling solo (no other adult) you have the added headache of not being able to do a rest room pit stop for yourself if the kids are asleep in the car (unless you can get them both out and into some sort of stroller still sleeping and wheel them into a disability stall).
Do you live near a good library? If the kids will be awake during at least part of the trip, your DD is old enough to get into books on tape. Our library has tons of them and we never hit the road without checking out five or six books. There are usually at least two that turn out to be worth listening to.
If you have a tape or CD player in the car, also borrow new kids' music from friends and neighbors to amuse everyone on the trip.
Also, this won't help you with this trip, but check out www.bookcloseouts.com sometime. Do a search using the word "sticker." They sell big sticker scene books that usually cost 5-6 buck at Border's for 1-2 dollars each. I order a bunch about twice a year. We keep a stock for doctor waiting rooms and such as well, plus some we give as gifts.
We have friends who called everyone in the neighborhood a few days before they took a trip and asked every family with kids to donate a couple of kids' meal toys that they were planning to throw away anyway. The mom would get about 40 kid meal toys and wrap each one in wrapping paper. She handed out a gift to each of her 2 yr old twins about once every 15 minutes. The kids probably had as much fun unwrapping and scattering wrapping paper as they did playing with the toys.
Hope you have a good trip - Suzanne
thanks for the great ideas :)
clarity
Books on tape was my first thought, as was music. For us, we can't do anything without music where Julia is concerned. She has a ton of toys but the ones that play music and are more "interactive" are the ones that hold her attention the longest. She has a small Leap Frog "See and Learn"
If you kids ars still in booster seats or car seats I would put them in the reclining position.
My dh did most of the driving while I slept. :)
Good luck.
Tanya
Good luck!
Carson-- SAHM to six
i went to goodwill looking for mickeydee's toys, and made a great find! i got a box full of perhaps 50 kids tapes-music, books on tape, stories, soundtracks from disney movies, and science ones- for 2$!!!! i couldn't believe my luck! so that will be plenty to entertain dd.
thanks again for all the ideas :)
clarity