This is really great! Love how intentional (and realistic) you are about how to make this work. All the snacks! I’m sort of curious about a version like this - not minute by minute, but how the week lays out with less screen time. I’m also thinking about summer right now and how we want to handle the time if you have any future ideas!
Ba ha this is so real. I'd love to read something similar from my mom when we roadtripped across America to national parks from NC with 5 kids in a van! It was crazy times.
One thing we really love to do that you didn't mention (it does require a lot of participation from adults in the car too - even me, who is almost always the driver!) is car games like the license plate game or the ABC game where you look for the alphabet on road signs. My kids get carsick super easy so we're pretty limited as to activities beyond music so games that involve looking out the window even on soulless I-95 are very handy! They are also classics from my childhood. That BINGO game might be a good sweet spot though that doesn't require too much reading in the cart.
The license plate game and the alphabet game are two of my favorites! Sadly, my kids aren’t really into the alphabet game yet (though John and I will play it together when we feel sleepy, ha!). They do enjoy the license plate game but we usually opt for it when we’re crossing more state lines!
This cracked me up: "First request, from Annie: “horse song.” At a loss, I press play on “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” which she accepts." Oh the frustration of not knowing what a toddler wants; oh the joy of your response being acceptable! A true high. And hooray to Annie for a pretty good car nap! Foster napped for 2.5 hours on his first ever road trip (that has NEVER happened again) and I think it gave us all false hope, ha!
I loved all of this!!! Very relatable and looks similar to our car trips, although we do indulge in a movie on really long trips. I loved that you mentioned reading Our State magazine... one trip I declared (in much frustration) that road tripping with kids is a magazine-reading event and not book-reading!
This was so impressive. I can’t promise my family will be able to manage the same but I def think we’re going to try some version of it. I get car sick if I’m turning around constantly to hand things over. Thanks so much for the play by play! I can see my younger daughter having the same reactions as Annie!
Thank you for this beautiful insight. We regularly need to trek the 4 hour journey to the airport/extended family with Mr 8 and Miss 6. Like Kirsten M, carsickness limits our options from much of the in-car activities, and our tropical location limits us from snacking in the car (water & breathmints is as much as we’re comfortable with!).
Keen to try the opening & closing cheer, and love hearing about all the sketching - something I think both our two would enjoy, outside of the car!
This is really great! Love how intentional (and realistic) you are about how to make this work. All the snacks! I’m sort of curious about a version like this - not minute by minute, but how the week lays out with less screen time. I’m also thinking about summer right now and how we want to handle the time if you have any future ideas!
I have plans in the works for both of those! :)
Yay!! Can't wait!
Ba ha this is so real. I'd love to read something similar from my mom when we roadtripped across America to national parks from NC with 5 kids in a van! It was crazy times.
One thing we really love to do that you didn't mention (it does require a lot of participation from adults in the car too - even me, who is almost always the driver!) is car games like the license plate game or the ABC game where you look for the alphabet on road signs. My kids get carsick super easy so we're pretty limited as to activities beyond music so games that involve looking out the window even on soulless I-95 are very handy! They are also classics from my childhood. That BINGO game might be a good sweet spot though that doesn't require too much reading in the cart.
The license plate game and the alphabet game are two of my favorites! Sadly, my kids aren’t really into the alphabet game yet (though John and I will play it together when we feel sleepy, ha!). They do enjoy the license plate game but we usually opt for it when we’re crossing more state lines!
This cracked me up: "First request, from Annie: “horse song.” At a loss, I press play on “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” which she accepts." Oh the frustration of not knowing what a toddler wants; oh the joy of your response being acceptable! A true high. And hooray to Annie for a pretty good car nap! Foster napped for 2.5 hours on his first ever road trip (that has NEVER happened again) and I think it gave us all false hope, ha!
Cruel! 😂
I loved all of this!!! Very relatable and looks similar to our car trips, although we do indulge in a movie on really long trips. I loved that you mentioned reading Our State magazine... one trip I declared (in much frustration) that road tripping with kids is a magazine-reading event and not book-reading!
Yes! The natural stopping points make it much easier to dip in and out.
Animal Freeze Dance with stuffies is such a fun idea! Definitely sounds like a fun adventure!
This was so impressive. I can’t promise my family will be able to manage the same but I def think we’re going to try some version of it. I get car sick if I’m turning around constantly to hand things over. Thanks so much for the play by play! I can see my younger daughter having the same reactions as Annie!
Thank you for this beautiful insight. We regularly need to trek the 4 hour journey to the airport/extended family with Mr 8 and Miss 6. Like Kirsten M, carsickness limits our options from much of the in-car activities, and our tropical location limits us from snacking in the car (water & breathmints is as much as we’re comfortable with!).
Keen to try the opening & closing cheer, and love hearing about all the sketching - something I think both our two would enjoy, outside of the car!