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Road Trip! Need advise.

dragonfly5's picture

I am taking the first major road trip with fdh, fsd10 and fss13.
We are driving 12 hours for a week of vacation. The thought of being trapped in a car with them terrifies me.

My daughter who is now 29 would sleep for hours when we went on road trips. Also being an only child she could and did amuse herself for hours.

What should I expect? And advise for me on how to keep them happy and busy?

We have gone on 3 hours trip before, sometimes they do the when are going to be there routine, sometime they want to stop all the time....I am quick to stop the when are we there deal, but you never know if they really need to stop.

Comments

smileygirl's picture

I have a DVD play in the car, the take the portable game players, IPods, Books, Etc. I would just be prepared for frequent stops and bring my plenty of entertainment plus snacks for them and you.

I usually pop in my earbuds and listen to some music while reading a book when their games and constant "are we there yets" have gotten on my nerves. It keeps the peace.

Good Luck!

dragonfly5's picture

What is normal frequent stops? I bought some games we could play in the car. They do have portable dvd players..good idea.

smileygirl's picture

I would be prepared to stop about every 2 hours. It lets them stretch their legs, use restrooms, vending machines, etc. and gives everyone a second to get some space of their own.

forestfairy's picture

I would possibly purchase a mini DVD player for the kids to watch movies. They are pretty cheap these days.

If that's not an option then bring art supplies, books, and google some road trip games. Looking for license plates from every state and crossing them off as you go, "I spy", games that don't require boards. There are travel versions of Connect 4 and stuff like that. Make some good music mixes that everyone will enjoy.

Bring snacks and stop every couple hours to stretch your legs or sight-see.

CrystalRE's picture

I dont worry so much about the drive. We always pack snacks, drinks, music, pillows and blankets, books, Nintendo DS, and our van has a dvd player. When we go on vacation I do have a no cell phone rule so that we can avoid BM drama. There is nothing worse than having BM drama on an expensive and much needed vacation!

hismineandours's picture

For the drive we either leave the night before like at 10:00-so the kids will just sleep thru the bulk of the driving or at the very least-very early morning so they will sleep. We dont make that many stops. We always stop for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and then we do rest stops a couple of times for bathroom breaks-that is on a 12-14 hr trip. It really isnt that bad if they are sleeping. My kids 13,12, and 9 dont really have any problems they all like to read, listen to their headphones, play games on their cell phones, ds's whatever-they watch tv episodes on their Ipods. My ss13 however is a pill. Its not bad on the way down because of leaving at night but on the way home we leave in the morning and it is pure torture. He is incapable of amusing himself in any way shape of form so unless he is sleep he is 1)annoying someone else in the vehicle or 2)complaining loudly about everything and anything. He will poke the other kids, pull their hair, kick the back of their seats, say rude things to them to try and get them to respond to him. Ah, well, I better stop I dont want to scare you off. Hopefully your skids have better behavior. This year we arent taking ss-because actually he is that way pretty much all the time not just when we are in the car.

dragonfly5's picture

Oh my! I will let you know if FDH's future vacations will be just him and the kids when I return. I do want us all to have fun. It will the first full week vacation we have had together. They are so excited.

Truthfully so are we!