Many have questioned our sanity in trekking across the country for 6 weeks with two children under 3 years of age. And there have been a few days in our last 9 days in which I, too, have questioned our sanity. However, I would like to share some tricks we think we’ve figured out how to work it.
- Balls
- Books – audio books for the kids
- Plenty of snacks
- Big gas tank in the car
- Snacks
- playground mapper (Google, bing, anything that will show green spaces)
- more snacks
- Know your daily distance limits
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- Angry kids eat their shoes.
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- Happy kids have food in their bellies.
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The kids play better together outside than in.
A hungry kid is an angry kid. Food keeps them and you happy. Playing in the car with a lightweight ball is actually more time consuming than you would think and not nearly as dangerous as trying to ignore screaming toddlers. Reading books seems to really work for Cora. The audio books from the Seattle Public Library were a nice addition to the collection for the trip, and when she would leave the headphones in, she would stay engaged for about 20 minutes. Having to stop for gas more frequently than you need to stop to exercise the kids is BAD. Tactical location of parks for meals is a great way to make sure you don’t live at McDonald’s or the mall to get some laps in for your kiddo during much needed breaks.
Snuggle time before we hit the road.
It’s wishful thinking that this list of ideas would always work, but I figured some of things were unique and might help others considering a long road trip with little ones. We have resigned ourselves that we can’t be on the road for more than 5 hours of driving. That is not total time on the road, that is the amount it takes to get to the destination It will take at least 1.5 – 2 hours to do the playtime, feeding and potty breaks necessary to keep the sanity you were aiming for to begin with.
Making a picture frame to decorate the RV.
Harlan plays peek-a-boo in the Jeep.