A week long road trip with 5 kids and no whining
We have been looking forward to our vacation for months now! Although our destination has wavered over the past couple of months, a'road trippin we were a'goin'!
I have a confession to make. Every once in a while I am reminded of my weaknesses as a mother. I see some of these moms who stay completely calm and put together while their child screams their head off throwing whatever tantrum they are throwing at that moment. I am not that mom. I cannot stand the sound of whining. Even the hint of a complaint, and my blood pressure is rising. It has gotten so bad in the past few years that even if my daughters are playing with their babies or barbies and "pretend crying" SNAP! "Girls, no whining!" So when you combine that, with hours stuck in the car with really no "plan" to speak of you could very easily end up with a mommy melt down!
I am determined to control the amount of tears shed this trip, theirs and mine! I started by thinking of all the things my children like to do when we are at home. What are some things that they enjoy when I am able to pry the iPods and iPads from their fingertips? Then when I could only come up with a handful of ideas, I went to pinterest! Everywhere I went I saw these cookie sheets sprayed with chalkboard paint. They were useful for EVERYTHING! Having a stable "Lap desk" was a jumping off point for the idea's that I came next.
Although I would love for my children to enjoy an electronic free vacation, I needed to be realistic here! I purchased one of the dual head DVD players for the truck. I had been dragging my feet on replacing the old one for about 2 years now, but decided this was definitely the time! I packed each child their own car bag, inside I loaded them with coloring books appropriate to their taste. Some crayons and pencils, a new book purchased just for this trip and a sketch book/ journal.
On top of their bags, each kidd-o got one of the cookie sheets. Additionally I made one MISC. bag, that I filled with punching balloons, the magnetic puzzles I previously put together, a BIG bag of glowsticks (for nighttime driving), wet wipes, some extra books, and a TON of the gel window clings purchased from the Dollar Tree.
I made a craft box that I filled with large Popsicle sticks, index card sized card stock, and miscellaneous crafting stuff to be shared with all the kids. I had the idea of the kids making puppets to be played with across the seats, I didn't even have to give them the idea. The girls did exactly that as soon as they opened the box!
Several months ago, I started a membership with the Disney Movie Club. I ordered a lot of movies from them, and kept them aside so we would have fresh new movies to choose from. For Alex, I took him to Fred Meyers and let him pick a few DVD's to be kept aside as well.
If you don't mind fingerprints on your windows, these window clings from the Dollar Tree are a great idea! The girls had a ton of fun mixing sets and creating little plays! It was very cute.
The B-krew
#bkrewroadtrip via instagram
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