I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by us. Before I know it, Mr. Rose will be home and we will be getting ready to go over the river and through the woods to Grammy's house for Thanksgiving. I am simultaneously looking forward to and dreading this trip. I love the holidays and I especially love being with my family during this time. Living so far away from them (a 10 hour drive), makes this a difficult task. Hence the reason why I am dreading the trip.
Driving for 10 hours with a three year old and a 15 month old, just isn't fun. In fact, I become a waitress, cruise director, and stewardess all rolled into one for the entire 10 hours. Between changing movies in Miss H's DVD player and constantly keeping Lil' B occupied with different toys or snacks, simply riding in the car becomes even more exhausting than normal.
I fear that this time we make this trip will be especially frustrating. Even though Lil' B is one now, she does not weigh enough (only 17 lbs!) for us to turn her car seat forward facing. She has been increasingly fussy the last few weeks in the car. She is not a car sleeper at all and she really isn't into watching tv. All of these present me with a unique challenge when trying to figure out how to keep her entertained.
Today I purchased a new mirror for the back seat that has lights and music for her. I also picked up a couple of new toys that I hope will keep her entertained for awhile. I think I am even going to borrow someone's portable DVD player to hook up for her to watch. Having two DVD players going at the same time will be interesting, but Miss H will use headphones.
I really do not want to end up riding in the 10 inches left over in the backseat between their car seats in order to keep Lil' B happy. If you have any suggestions for keeping these kiddos happy, I would love to hear them!
Erin
6 comments:
Good luck!
We usually do our long drive(it's 10 hours to my parents' house, too) at night. It's exhausting, but my kids are more likely to fall asleep then than they are if we go during the day.
I had little treats that were given out at various increments. That helped a lot! We also loved those little storytime books/CD's that go together!
I don't envy you...especially since I'm making a 12 hour car ride this December as well. We have the built-in DVD players, Buddy has his Nintendo DSi, and my mom and dad bought Buster a VTech something or other, so we're hoping between all that and books, that we make it alive and sane.
Also, we plan to leave the house around 4 a.m., hoping the kids will sleep for at least part of the ride.
Ok, that's long enough without a new post from you!
We had a rough 18 hr drive last year and we're so happy they are older by a year; what a difference a year makes - something to look forward to! We traveled a lot at night this year and made several stops on the way at parks to let them stretch their legs. We also had a cooler of snacks ready to grab at any moment and baskets of toys/activity books for them. Night driving has to be the best thing we did!
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