Car Trips, Kids, Oh My

Everyone remembers riding around in the car with their folks.  Whether you were going to visit the grandparents a few hours away, or driving 8 hours to arrive at a vacation destination, the car ride could feel like it lasted for days.  For you parents, it often felt like it lasted for weeks.

There are ways to make that trip seem shorter for everyone and to be sure that when you arrive wherever you are going, nerves aren’t frayed and you barely feel like you were in the car.  How does this happen?  A little prior planning and putting yourself in your kids’ place when you do that planning.

Let’s face it, kids get bored.  There are tons of digital gadgets (electronic babysitters) you can pass into the back seat to keep the kids settled.  For older kids, it may be the only way to keep them happy.  But this is supposed to be a family trip.  Why not start building memories before you get to your destination?

There are plenty of people that would reject this idea out of hand, but you don’t take a family car trip every day, and if you treat it as something special, so will the kids.  Pack a cooler.  Fill it with things you don’t usually allow (and that won’t ruin the car’s interior).  I did not stock my house with candy or junk food, but that cooler was full of lollipops, twizzlers and jellybeans.  Notice, no gum or chocolate, you’re just asking for trouble.  There were kid friendly sip drinks and juice boxes.  There were also sandwiches, grapes, carrot sticks, apples, paper towels and empty plastic bags.  Non-icky cookies like nilla wafers, chips and donut holes were also must haves.  My kids did not eat like this all the time.  But on a car trip, making it an adventure and doing special things out of the ordinary kept them engaged and on their best behavior.

Bring books, puzzles, coloring books and crayons (if they’re old enough not to draw on the car).  Little cars and puppets can really make the time pass. Action figures, dolls and a deck of cards. Old Maid is great, but so is a regular deck of cards if the kids are old enough for other games.

Play games that engage the members of the backseat.  Look for signs that start with the letters of the alphabet and see who can get to ‘Z’ first.  20 questions can truly be fun.  Sing songs, really.  Some of this may sound corny, but kids don’t know it is, they just know that their parents are paying attention to them.

Stop every couple of hours whether you need to or not.  Fill the tank, get everyone out of the car to hit the restroom, this includes the kids that don’t have to go right now.  Walking around outside of the car for a few minutes is mind clearing for everyone and healthier than sitting in one position endlessly.  And don’t fool yourself, drivers need a break, especially on the interstates with nothing but tail lights and emergency lanes to view.  At each stop, take one of those empty plastic bags out of the cooler, fill it up with the waste from the snacks and throw it out.  Add snacks to the cooler if you need to, but things were priced much better at your grocery store than they will be at a gas station.

Now you’re at Grandma’s, or the beach, or wherever.  Tears were kept to a minimum, teasing wasn’t the only activity to break up the monotony of the drive, and your kids might even look forward to getting back in the car for the ride home.  More importantly, so will you.