On the Road with Kids
In that the summer is not quite over, and there are a few more trips to be squeezed in—it seemed timely to share with you our family’s philosophy on traveling.
When we’re in the car we try to keep it mellow with books and movies and drawing. When the wee ones get frisky we dig into our bag of tricks to keep them busy…
When we’re out of the car, we keep it simple…
All in all, there are limitless ways to prepare your children to travel. At the end of the day, we’re all going to figure it out on our own. But if one defining principle applies to us all, it is this—have realistic expectations of your children and yourself. Learn to listen to your children, and learn that a checklist does not define good travel. Flexibility does.
So, whether your wee ones are melting at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower or they can’t survive one more second in the car 12 inches from their sibling—change your plans.
Life isn’t about the things we can check off or how fast we can drive somewhere. Life is about family. And being a family is being aware that every piece of the puzzle is important. No memory or perfect photo op is worth having if everyone was made miserable getting it.
Okay, that’s a quick intro course to our “traveling with kids” philosophy. There are many more layers to it, personal to our family—and many more layers to add as the kids grow up…
What are some of your favorite travel tips/philosophies/ideas?
Becky
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Love what you said here: “No memory or perfect photo op is worth having if everyone was made miserable getting it.” Such a good reminder. I wrote a post back in May about how putting some planning time into our road trip changed our whole mood in the car from one spring break to the next. 10 Ways to Keep a Road Tripping Mama out of the Looney Bin– http://messageinamasonjar.com/2012/05/21/road-tripping-mama/ Also, I love your idea about having the kids try to hold their breath through tunnels. I’m up for anything that gets kids interacting with the world around them and seeing the sights…not to mention that it’ll keep them quiet for a few seconds.
Just a quick, unrelated question: On you homepage, you have a little video, and I am dying to know what the background music is, and who it’s by. Could you please post and let me know? Thanks!
Hi Sallie – The song is called Imagine Anything by Dan Phillipson. Thanks for stopping by!