Helpful Mom

So maybe you read my posts about my heading off to Buffalo or Syracuse for the day with just me and my kids.  Or perhaps longer trips like to Marineland, African Lion Safari, and Toronto with the whole family and you wonder how we survive the drives and actually do it again.  Well I’m no expert but I can share from our experience of what we do.  The number one thing we use for long trips is our dual screen dvd player for the girls.  I only pull it out for trips that take more than hour to drive so it’s something special for roadtrips.  I also have all our DVD movies in a book in our car and that’s the only time they get to watch those movies.  In the house we have only VHS tapes, or DVDs from the library.  That is another great way to keep the movies in the car current, borrow from the library if you can return them before they are due back, or rent from RedBox and return at your destination city since you can return RedBox movies to any Redbox anywhere.

But we do more than just plug our kids in to a TV of course.  Unfortunately even a TVs lure only holds for so long.  So I pack surprise bags for the trip.  The kids are always so excited when we go on a trip long enough for surprise bags.  I save them for trips 2 hrs long or longer to keep them extra special.  I typically pack a simple craft, a small toy, and a small treat in each bag.  One bag per hour of the trip, per child.  I number the bags because sometimes items will build on something they received in an earlier bag, like once I gave them baby dolls in one bag, and then later in the trip they received bottles and change of clothes for the dolls, which if given in the wrong order would be disappointing.  Since I have two girls I make sure to get 2 of everything when I’m out shopping and I find something trip worthy, that way there’s no fighting over who gets what, everything’s the same.

By crafts I mean the kinds of premade ones you can buy at AC Moore or Michael’s for about $1.  There are usually lots of mini posters of popular characters like Tink, Cars, Spiderman, and Princesses that come with a small set of markers.  Books with magic markers with invisible ink are a big hit.  The craft stores usually have an aisle or bins near the front of the stores with items for about $1 that make great prizes.  Party store favors like bubble rings(so small that even if spilled the mess is minimal) also make cheap, fun toys for your bags.  Target has those great $1 items right inside the front door, you can find great toys, dress up jewelry, books, and stickers.  I also collect toys after Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter when they are on clearance and stash them away for trips.  I only pay about $1.50-$2 per bag but it’s well worth it.  The kids just love it and it’s fun putting the bags together because I know how much they will enjoy opening them.  Right now my girls are sleeping with their pig and kitty puppets I gave them on their last trip.

Some toys that I have found that are small that work well are things like a ViewMasters(found at garage sales), hand puppets, bubble toys, small cars, small stuffed animals, dolls, dress up items, etch-a-sketch, magna doodle, flannel boards, paper dolls, magnetic doll scenes, binoculars, my little ponies, and many more.  The binoculars I gave them with “The Scavenger Hunt Race” board, it has a map with things that you are looking for along the way on your trip.  I found it on Ebay for a couple dollars, but it can be reused on multiple trips, which of course lots of the toys can be too.  I am guilty of taking toys back after a trip and regifting them to the kids on future trips.  There is also a great book called Water WOW! that comes with a little squeeze bottle that you fill with water and the kids “paint” the pages of the books, it’s like the old water paint books but the great part is that when the water dries the page goes back to clear and so your kids can use the book over and over again.  Costs $4-6 each but with multiple uses it’s a great investment.

And don’t forget to prepare for those rest stops.  I keep chalk, bubbles, and punching balloons in my glove box, doesn’t everyone?