Prior to having kids I loved to go out of town! I always told my self I wouldn’t let kids change my life, but when your LOVE for going out of town changes because of the work it takes to do leave you find a way to streamline that process. I’ve travelled with my kids to Canada, Europe, and a few states. We typically fly together 2 times a year and take road trips once a month. Flying is a whole different blog post, today I am going to focus on ROAD TRIPS!
1. Plan Ahead
When my kids were babies I would leave right after they had eaten so I knew they would be happy and take a nap while on the road. Nap time in the car is a great time to travel until your kids are too old and a nap during the day ruins bedtime. At this point AVOID any time when you know they might fall asleep. For my kids that is anytime after 1 pm.
2. Keep Them Entertained.
For a while I refused to let my kids watch TV or play iPad while in the car. We have a pretty strict limited screen time policy in our house and I was determined they should be able to do other activities. Sticker books, coloring books (with those special markers that only color on special paper so you don’t have a child covered in purple marker), toys, music and podcasts can only last so long on a 6 hour drive! Movies in the car have been THE BEST DECISION I made about road trips. We love the LEAP FROG DVDs are our top played items.
3. Bathroom Breaks Suck
I figure you have two options when it comes to stopping for bathroom breaks. Option number one my husband finds cruel and unusual- no liquids allowed. Option two is something I don’t leave home without. The potette is the best thing you can purchase if you spend a lot of time in the car. I’ve even used it myself when kids have been sleeping an I don’t want to wake them to into a bathroom.
4. Food
As an adult I cannot go on a road trip without a bag full of food. Some trips I make better choices than others carrot sticks vs. licorice. Some days I am weaker than others, and nothing says vacation like junk food! Just make sure you save some for the trip home or you will have some grump kids.
5. Music
You don’t have to be stuck listening to kid music. There are so many child appropriate songs, download a few playlists from Amazon Music and have some fun singing with your kids to your favorite tunes. For those that you think are inappropriate just hit next. I would much rather listen to a piano version of “Baby Got Back” than Kidz Bop version 8.
6. Kindle
If you didn’t know, now you do. Kindle offers lots of kids books that you can download. My kids LOVE to listen to the Magic tree house series and for something like $19 we purchased 8 hours worth of books.
