Don't be afraid to hit the road with your kids this summer
Published: 6/27/2012 3:17 PM
Last Modified: 6/27/2012 3:41 PM
On our first pit stop in Florida, my 7-year-old was very excited about seeing palm trees, but kept asking, "Where are the coconuts?"
Some parents may avoid them -- remembering all the backseat sibling fights and endless hours of boredom from their own childhood -- but with a little effort, road trips can be fun for the whole family.
On a recent vacation to Florida, I tried to make sure my daughters would have fond memories of the car trip and wouldn't drive my husband and me crazy with arguments.
This was by far the longest trip we'd ever taken with our girls, who are 7 and 12. To prepare for the 22-hour drive (and to avoid the endless rounds of "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer?"), I scoured the Internet for some useful tips. A great resource was "Keeping Kids Happy on Long Car Rides: Tips and Tricks".
After surviving the experience, here are my tips for a relatively pain-free car trip with kids:
Gather your headphones. These can be used for the portable DVD player, iPod Touch, Nintendo DS, etc., and allows one kid to watch a movie and the other to listen to her music, while my husband and I hold a conversation in peace. I also packed all the chargers for the electronics in the same bag.
Check out DVDs from the library. Since we own most of the Disney and Pixar animated features, my husband and I were looking for films that were mostly unfamiliar to the girls. We ended up with a dozen movies ranging from "Benji" and "Matilda" to "Mrs. Doubtfire" and the original "Footloose." (Just be warned: the Tulsa City-County Library will only allow you to check out five DVDs at a time. We had to use multiple library cards for our haul.)
Get some new-to-you music. We bought "The Hunger Games" soundtrack (for everyone) and "Up All Night" from One Direction (for the girls) to play in the car's CD player or the portable DVD player, but you can also check out CDs from the library or download music from iTunes.
Take a trip to a dollar store. I purchased funky pens, a sketch pad and activity books with puzzles, games and coloring pages. We also brought along crayons and markers. I pulled these out a different times along the trip when the girls started to get restless.
Pack some magazines. If your kids get motion sickness when they try to read books in the car, magazines may be the answer. With lots of photos and larger type, they are easier on the eyes.
Make sure to have water and snacks available. Water bottles and flavor singles from Hawaiian Punch along with granola bars and fruit snacks keep away the hunger pains until it is time for a meal.
Bring pillows and small blankets. These are important for making the backseat a home away from home.
Know when to stop. Combine bathroom breaks or meals with a chance to stretch your legs. It sounds obvious, but when you're trying to shave a few minutes off your trip it is tempting to hit a drive-through or to stay in the car while your husband gasses up. Walking around is not only a great way to burn off pent-up energy, it also prevents the swelling in your feet and ankles that happens when you sit still for long periods of time. (And yes, I did learn this the hard way.)
Written by
Colleen Almeida Smith
Staff Writer
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