It is the holiday season and car trips (and plane trips too) and tis the season of traveling with antsy children. It doesn’t matter if you are just going twenty minutes or spending several hours heading to Rochester or Elmira traveling with kids can be stressful. It seems that “Are we there yet?” has been issued already more times than your nerves can handle.
I feel your pain. I have now the joy of older children and they have iPods, DVD’s and the laptop computer to keep them occupied. The best $500 investment years ago was the behind the seat DVD player with headsets. Parents today can pick one up for considerably less.
If you are planning a car trip this Holiday season with the kids, here are a few suggestions, on things to pack in the car to keep you from going crazy.
- For each child buy a bunch of little trinket items and wrap them up. Go to the dollar store and get things that the kids are always asking you for.
- Invest in some paper towels, but even better bring 6 or 8 kitchen towels for the ride, they come in handy for clean ups, make great place-mats in laps for eating in the car and if you have the terrible spill, they work so well.
- Traveling with a baby? Place two or three bibs on them. One gets dirty — take it off without having to put another one one!
- Have a clean washcloth in a baggie with you. Each time you stop rinse it out and you have something to clean sticky fingers. A container of baby wipes is also a great resource to have on these trips.
- A huge stash of plastic bags — sounds silly but you will generate garbage on the way and what better way than when you fill up gas rid the car of any excess garbage.
- Make sure you bring some Windex and paper towels, windows get dirty!
- A pillow and blanket for each child, if you are lucky they will take a long nap during the trip!
- Bring a lap table for each child, bring crayons, coloring books and lots of paper for them to draw as they go by. Note if you are going to travel anywhere where the car will get hot when parked, colored pencils a smarter option. Magic Markers just a bad idea, the caps never stay on and something always gets stained. Check Out: Mom’s minivan
- Create coloring sheets of the trip and things that they might see. Help the kids create a memory book by keeping the sheets in a three ring binder, as they color them, they go back into the binder. At the end of the trip you can use these sheets to add to the photos you take to build a memory book. Check Out: Free Coloring Pages
- Snacks. Bring lots of them, and invest in the individually wrapped items or put items in the small baggies for the kids. Juice boxes put in a cooler frozen solid. Kids get bored they want to eat. Don’t forget carrots, celery, grapes and apple wedges are great snacks too for the car! Check out: iVillage Healthy Car Snacks
Happy 4th of July Western New York!
