Surviving a Vacation with the Kids

Nothing is worse then getting into a car full of children and driving 400+ miles, except perhaps, getting to the destination, utterly worn out, and having to deal with the kids anyhow! Oh the joys of family vacations. In the backseat you hear, "Mom are we there yet?!!", "Mommy I have to peeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!", "Daddy why are you yelling at Mommy?" and "Since we are lost will we always be lost?" It is enough to make me never want to take another vacation again or at least until the kids are 21. So how do you survive a family vacation, sanity in tact? Well, sorry to say, you don't, but at least Doc can give you a little advice to help ease the pain and reduce the mental health bills you incur after you arrive home.

First of all, pack up your laptop along with a power cord converter, found at such places as Radio Shack. The computer will allow older kids to play video games, write letters to friends and watch movies as you speed towards your destination. Three movies will get you from New Hampshire to New Jersey with hardly a whimper of pain from the backseat!! If you are staying at a hotel make sure you take your laptop with you on daytrips. Never leave anything of value in a hotel room as you don't know who has access to the room. Also, for older kids, pack a Zune or Ipod for musical enjoyment. This will also block out the sounds of the adults fighting over the directions to the destination. And don't forget to pack the Mad Libs. Adults and kids love these things.

For younger kids pack up a few toys that can be enjoyed on the car seat's tray. For adults pack some favorite magazines or books. For everyone pack up hand held meals such as breakfast, lunch and, if the trip is really long, supper. Include sandwiches, boiled eggs, grapes, crackers, apples, oranges and cheese. Having food easily accessible and ready to go makes it so you don't have to pull over for anything but bathroom breaks. Have an older child or an adult be in charge of doling everything out during mealtimes. Include a frozen bottle of water in your cooler. This will keep the perishables cold without getting them wet and will provide icy cold water in a mater of hours during a hot summer day. Also pack a few individual drink containers but don't go overboard with drinks as they will increase vehicle stopping power in a matter of speaking.

Plot your trip ahead of time. Go to Map Quest or a similar web site to plot out a plan of travel action. Once you have your plan pick a half way point at which to stop for a bathroom break and leg stretch. If you are going a long distance, like we often travel, then make this a place to change drivers as well. For example, we travel from New Hampshire to New Jersey for a vacation with relatives. On that trip the border of Connecticut and New York is where we have designated as our bathroom break, leg stretch break and driver exchange point. All the kids know that mom and dad will not and cannot put on the breaks until that point. Until that point on the map the van basically has no brakes at all.

One final piece of advice, drive at night. We leave around 1 in the morning for our New Jersey trip. This helps us to avoid rush hour and helps us to avoid all the other traffic associated with a regular day in modern civilization. Another great thing about leaving so early is that the kids are unconscious. Any mother can tell you that an unconscious child is a quiet child. Therefore you have peace and quiet all the way to New York City.