Traveling With Kids
Packing for trips with my children was always an adventure. Especially with the twins, the dog, my mom, my mother-in-law and my husband. Now that just spells adventure. Ok, not really adventure but I am trying to put a happy spin on this travel stuff.
For my children there was always seemingly a terrible fear of being eternally bored because the packing for them sometimes took longer than the trip. Some bags were filled with movies, another with books (a library really), and still another with their favorite toys. They had to pack games to play and then food for themselves and others, drinks… This often took another entire bag (yes, I am serious). Then there was a bag that held outfits that they may need if something happened and soiled their clothing. Lord, Help me if I needed to actually add to this on our journey.
When we moved to Tennessee the girls were two years old and it was like a chuckwagon of items that clang as we go down the highway.
No, we didn’t pack the kitchen sink (but if Brianna had thought about it… ) She thought of everything including a small port-a-potty that they insisted on using along the side of Route 66 as they had the need.
My mom would go back and forth in the van like Cooky in the old chuck wagon to prepare meals in the back which delighted the girls to no end. Veggie Tales often played for us on the what seemed the endless miles to our destination.
I realized some time later that as much as a list of what to bring is another maybe more important list of what not to bring in order to not lose your sanity.
They packed these delightful talking toys (two of them because they were twins after all) that taught them their alphabet and the road made it sing in an endless alphabet rap song
A-A A A B-BBB C- C AAAa…
Finally, not able to stand it any longer I revved the engine of my overstuffed minivan and rushed into the fast lane passing my husband in the moving truck then pulling in front of him and off at the next off-ramp. I could see the strange look on his face as he saw me drive off and pull into a parking lot.
He laughed as I asked him to open the back as I went to the back of the van to pick up those terrible toys. I rushed back to the back of the U-Haul and threw in the offenders, smiled at him and said, “Ok, we can go now!” and got back in the car. He watched me obviously worried about my sanity. As I looked in the rearview mirror I noticed our dog was sitting in the driver’s seat of the U-haul like she was driving. Yep, my sanity was a goner!
Ok, so for real here, what do you need to bring? Well for littles, especially healthy snacks and drinks. We have no peanut allergies so we did
- Plain sliced apples or apples with peanut butter on them.
- Healthy organic crackers like these Homemade Cheeze Its crackers are great and very tasty for those that can eat wheat.
- We packed dried fruit
- Carrot sticks, fresh fruit
- Squares of cheese for protein
- Meat roll ups. Here is where I recommend my slicer – You can make healthy meat and slice it yourself for a wonderful treat for the family. So much better for you and saves a ton of money.
- Sandwiches are great meals on the go too. We just pack the fixings so they don’t get soft or mushy and keep what needs to be kept cold in the cooler.
- A thermos of hot drinks if it is cold is always a comfort for adult and child.
- A coffee thermos for the driver if it is a long trip.
- We pack Bottles of water to keep hydrated. I am not a soda or juice person, I believe in really good water for young and old alike. I have seen what sugar and artificial color does to a person and just didn’t want that for my children. So for food and drinks, I would say keep it as healthy as you can. The kids will be much more calm and you will too.
- Large bibs for kids are a good idea and will help with spills that will be worse if you have to stop to change.
- A couple of damp wash cloths. Maybe one with a bit of Castille soap on it for better washing.
For entertainment, we like to use things that are calming.
We are a Christian family and we really love to listen to
- Christian music
- audio dramas Like Focus on the Family Radio Theater and Lamplighter Theater
- Scripture set to music like this Scripture In My Heart Lullabies
- We love to listen to Christian books on tape as we drive as well.
- It is wonderful to find some good Christian music and sing along but it is also great to turn off the radio and talk, listen and just be a family.
