road trip sanity savers :: make this year’s vacation the best yet

A couple years ago our family took a long road trip vacation through six states over the course of one week. At the time we had a six year old, a not quite 4 year old, and a barely 2 year old.

I just had to pause and calculate ages in my head for a second, because I still can’t believe they were THAT LITTLE. And we survived. (As I’ve mentioned before, the cray up in here is off the charts…)

Maybe road trips are a norm for your family and inwardly you’re thinking ‘what’s the big deal?’, but seeing that it was our first family vacation that involved traveling more than 45 minutes away I planned and prepared ahead of time like nobody’s business.

I learned a few things along the way during our amazing adventure (it really was a wonderful trip!) that I’m finding myself going back to lately as we get ready for this year’s summer vacay.

First, Pinterest is both my favorite hobby and my absolute nemesis. Being a glutton for overthinking and anything sparkly, I had several ideas pinned that in reality were completely useless and unnecessary.

One idea was having a Surprise Bag for each kid to be opened at designated times on our trip. Three kids times an eight hour car ride gets expensive real fast and Dollar Store surprises break easily, junking up an already full minivan! So that idea is definitely getting the boot this time around.

Second, there were a few things that really came in handy and helped make our long car rides bearable, if not actually enjoyable. Those ideas are ones I am going back to and I’m going to share some of my favorite sanity savers below. I will link to the original idea goddesses also. 😉

Happy Child Behavior Clips

We try to use the H.A.L.T. method as a means to calm parenting at home. So obviously on a car trip it’s just as crucial to figure out if my kids are having a meltdown because they are Hungry, Angry, Lonely (or even bored), or Tired. If not, well then those little minds have a choice to make don’t they? That’s where the clip idea comes in. If their needs have been met and they are still choosing to fight for their right to party, their clip gets taken off the visor and they lose out on something special at the next stop. Everybody who still has a clip up when we stop gets to participate! Even the littlest kiddo last time got the concept and decided on something to keep him busy/happy until we stopped for a break.

Carseat Pillows

I got my Martha Stewart on and my sewing machine out to make each of my kids one of these tie-on carseat pillows. Over-achiever status earned. If sewing isn’t your thing or time is an issue, check out Amazon.com for some great neck or seatbelt pillow options!

Technology

Ok, so in my overplanning state two years ago I bought each kid a lap desk type thing at the dollar store for crayons and puzzles. Complete waste of money and space. They were obnoxious to put on and off at every stop, and when we weren’t going on a long drive there really wasn’t room in the van to store them. My kids enjoy coloring and drawing, but not for extended periods of time or while their hands are being jarred by bumpy roads.

My husband had the idea to buy a Kindle Fire for the two older kids before our trip. I hemmed and hawed because I thought, ‘Who does that? Aren’t road trips about visiting historical landmarks and staring out the window imagining cloud mermaids?‘

Buy the technology.

I can’t tell you how many times we were stuck in construction traffic and our kids were happily playing PBS Kids in the backseat. It was a total sanity saver in the long run. We simply rationed out their usage and they were no worse for the wear.

Snack Boxes

I let each of the kids (again, really just the older two at the time but all three will get to this year) pick out 4-5 snacks they preferred and put them in an individual snack container. We just passed them out at snack times and let them choose what to have. If they ate all the ‘good stuff’ first then they had pretzles for the remaining trip. They had some control and we all had peace. 😀

Organization

Maybe it’s my inner neat-freak but I like to keep our van clean on road trips. Having trash, crayons, and a million small toys shoved in every crevice makes my eye twitch. So organizing all those tiny toys and having a place for trash is key. The dollar store has alot of useful things that pull double duty – suction cup soap dishes stuck to the windows keep small items and art supplies corralled, a cereal container with a grocery bag inside makes a perfect sized trash can, and shoe organizers attached to the back of the seats make great spots to quickly collect all those random extras floating around the minivan.

That age old saying, Keep It Simple Sweetheart, really is the thing that makes road trips doable! Often with some well thought out, simple planning your vacation will be smooth sailing.

Oh, also. Earbuds for the mama and leave the legos at home…. 😀

Where are you headeing this summer? What tips and tricks can you share with me for saving sanity on a car trip?