Revision as of 01:28, 26 April 2023 by 154.13.102.101 (talk) (Created page with "Growing up in a family group of 5 kids, it seemed that my poor Dad yelled at us a lot while we were on long road trips. I could blame the majority of it on my older brother wh...")(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Growing up in a family group of 5 kids, it seemed that my poor Dad yelled at us a lot while we were on long road trips. I could blame the majority of it on my older brother who seemed to enjoy instigating in the automobile (yeah Johnny, I am talking about you!). The fact of the matter was, our long road trips were often uncomfortable, boring, and stressful for both parents and children. Through the years, I have analyzed the events over and over to try and find out what my parents could have done to help make the drive easier on everyone. I came up with the top 10 major stresses of traveling with young kids, and through research, practice and application discovered some simple fixes to over come them.Top 10 major stresses and answers to over coming them are:1. Beating the boredom - My parents rarely allowed us kids to create anything that would split up the monotony of a long road trip - therefore leaving us 5 kids to fend for ourselves in the back seat. We resorted to teasing, poking, making faces, and disrupting the overall harmony of the car for miles and miles. If we'd a number of the nifty travel toys, and games on today to beat the boredom on our long road trips from State to convey, perhaps we would have already been more entertained, and less bored out of our minds that leads to mischief, ultimately causing Dad to yell.2. Car entertainment - In order to fail completely and have a riot break out in your backseat, then never bring any toys, coloring books, games, finger puppets, and even string to play with on your long drive. It will keep the kids miserable, and the automobile spotless. Wow, that's a recipe for disaster. Allowing your kids to bring along simple self contained coloring kits, or hand held games, and even some finger puppets will make such a big difference in their dispositions when you travel. As a last resort, we always bring a DVD player with several new movies the youngsters haven't seen for that last 4 hour stretch on a 10 or 12 hour drive. I works like magic.3. Car clutter anxiety - You can have an organized car containing lots of activities, games, toys books and snacks for your kids, while still maintaining car cleanliness given that everything has it's place. My parents had 5 kids which managed to get a real challenge to keep things clean at the house, therefore the car was off limits when it came to bringing anything that may cause clutter. Unfortunately, this technique ended up causing some unhappy memories. There are numerous wonderful car organizers on the market today that hold a myriad of entertainment items, travel games, toys and snacks in order that the kids can actually enjoy the journey while still keeping the car clean.4. Family interaction - I'm not discussing hearing Dad yell, but providing nice family interaction by playing interacting games. If the games are about asking questions and studying each family member, or even more along the lines of Dictionary questions, an extended road trip is one of those ideal moments to benefit from with social interaction games. Provide your kids with some simple rules or directions concerning how to play the game and what forms of questions to ask, you will have at least one hour of positive interaction time, instead of the other alternative.5. Taking breaks - MY FATHER was quite proficient at this and we were able to stop pretty often to stretch our legs, have a snack and run around. Car rest stop breaks ought to be mandatory and scheduled in to the drive time. My children tries to pull over every 2 hours and take a break for about 15 minutes.6. I have to go to the bathroom - That is going to be considered a problem for a few years whilst travelling with little ones. Pulling away from the rest stop without sign of another rest stop for at least 2 hours then suddenly one of the kids realizes he or she must go potty. It could literally drive a parent insane unless that parent is armed and ready with a travel potty. There are some nifty travel potties out there that are compact, and may be used privately of the road for those "I must go now" moments. There is also a urinal with a lady adapter that even airplane pilots use because when you have to go, you will need to go. I carry both travel potty and travel urinal in our car all the time.7. Car sick - That is just one of those ideas that produce traveling miserable, whether your the sick one, or the parent having to clean it up. If you happen to have a motion sick little traveler like I do, t here are some motion sickness acupressure wrist bands that you can buy, and it never hurts to get a motion sickness tidy up kit with some nice air freshener spray up to speed. The good thing is, most kids grow out of this phase.8. Discomfort - back ache, buttock ache - Any parent or child is bound to become cranky when he or she starts to ache. Traveling by car all night and hours is merely going to do that to an individuals back, neck, and rear end. That is why those mandatory rest stop breaks are so important. But if you really want to prepare yourself, invest in some carseat massage pads, some travel pillows, and some nice spa like products from aroma therapy to lotions to permit each family member a little moment of soothing. It will add on miles of smiles to your drive!9. Eating proper - It's no fun to travel with a tummy ache from all of the bad snacks consumed through the entire drive. We have put together a car menu that is equal to eating at a health food restaurant and includes healthy snacks like celery with peanut butter, nuts (if you don't have a peanut allergy needless to say), fruits, vegetables, and breakfast, lunch and dinner entree's. Since my children lives with severe food allergies, we have made a science out of traveling and cooking on the road (but that's another article).10. Car school - education - Now that you have all your tools set up for an extended road trip, you can customize your drive to educate your kids. Think about it, 10 hours on the road and little Sally is understanding how to speak Latin, or little Johnny is studying G.A. Henty stories (narrated on Audiobooks for kids). If audiobooks have been available when I was a youngster, the backseat fighting problem would have been solved immediately once we all listened and learned whilst travelling down the road. You may also bring school supplies, and a compact lap desk for whenever your car school is in session.Traveling with small children on long road trips could be a stressful, miserable experience if you are not prepared. On the other hand, it can also be a fun, entertaining, and educational experience that leaves lasting happy memories. You have options concerning how you would like it to show out by taking enough time to prepare for your trip. It is possible to have a clean car, but still entertain the kids. I've done it successfully and so can you.Happy Travels!Linda Walsh is really a mother of 3 small children - one with special needs and a forth child on the way. read more is also a family travel expert who is rolling out a distinctive system for traveling with babies and small children, budgeting money, cooking from scratch on the road, managing life with special needs, and living an organized lifestyle to achieve the most miles out of raising her family. If you want to find more ways to simplify and organize your travels through life together with your children, visit her website at