I mean toddlers...Bahahaha. As excited as I was to see our family for the holiday, thoughts of last years 7.5 hour car ride from Hell danced like evil sugar plums in my brain!!! After that trip I swore I was flying to New York while Damon drove the kids. Meet ya there honey. I also swore we would be having no more children. This one may still be true, it's yet to be determined. This year's drive?? A piece of cake. We cut an 1.5 off our time & I had no thought of jumping from the moving vehicle!!! I'm sure it helps that the kids are older but here are a few tips we use to make traveling with toddlers easier.
1. If your traveling for the Holidays more than likely its going to be chilly. FOOTY PJS for the win. You don't want to have to keep turning around to cover the baby's feet after he's pulled his shoes & socks off for the 20 time!!! Even though Mia is potty trained we put a pull up on her so we don't have to stop every 2 hours. Wes got a 12 hr night time diaper.We only stopped once each way & ROCKED!!!
2. Before you head out stop by the library!!!! We splurged & got head rest DVD players for this trip. I made sure to borrow videos they hadn't seen. Make sure you get 5+ videos as a few are guaranteed to be scratched & not work. I also got both kids several books. We are now the proud owners of a numbers touch & feel that Wesley ripped the binding off.
3. Get new apps for your phone or tablet. I got The Joy of Reading & a Monkey Preschool Lunchbox collection. They are AMAZING!!! I especially loved TJOR. Super educational & easy for her to navigate without us having to help her every second. I brought books, crayons, memory games but let's be honest people. It's the electronics that saved us on this trip!!!!!
4. Coming into the 6th hour eyes are bleary, tempers starting to boil I usually pull out the snacks!! Stuff they don't usually get at home. Yogurt pretzels, gold fish cracker, mini Reese Cups. It's okay because we'll be out of the car soon, right???
5. Make sure you get a suite when staying in a hotel. Having two rooms will save your sanity I promise. We were able to keep the kids on their nap schedule & super early 7pm bedtime routine. While they were napping we could
party, drink & do push ups watch reruns of Tanked & nap on the couch. We
made the mistake of having one room when Mia was tiny & spent the majority of our trip using sign language & reading TV subtitles while trying not to wake the baby.
6. We bring the pack n play for Wes & Mia sleeps in her own bed. She still has a toddler railing so I was concerned about her falling out of bed. I just stuffed an extra pillow under the fitted sheet. Problem solved.
7. Have a few family friendly activities planned. Wrangling the kids in hotels & non baby proofed homes makes for REALLY long days. Scout out the area & plan some fun activities. We visit the most amazing childrens museum each year. grandma, aunts, uncles & cousins all come & have a great day. We also pre-planned a cookie decorating evening.
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