If you take some time to prepare, realize you are dealing with little energy machines, and include your children in your plans, travel should be one of those times the children, and you, remember fondly for a lifetime. |
Does it ever seem practically impossible to travel with your
children? Do you feel like just staying home and forgetting the trip rather than traveling
with your kids again? Most parents have those feelings at one time or another. However, if you take some time to prepare, realize you are dealing with little energy machines, and include your children in your plans. Travel should be one of those times the children, and you, remember fondly for a lifetime. |
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Enjoy traveling with children by making it a kids' trip. Travel plans with kids in mind make children happy travelers. When children are happy travelers, parents enjoy traveling more. Kids are not adults. Keep this in mind while traveling to make your kids happy travelers. |
Children are inherently adaptable, open-minded, and enthusiastic.
Wonderful, upbeat traveling companions! They also live in the present. Children want to do it and they want to do it now. They certainly want to get there now. We've all heard, "Are we there yet," on the way to the park at home. It just gets worse when you are traveling. Therefore, it is best to break trips into short segments. Then you can tell them that the next stop is the state park in two hours, not Grandma's house in two days. Include rest stops in your travel plans. Many states are blessed with roadside parks. And even the smallest town boasts a park or two for some energy abatement. |
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Allow your children to work off energy in these
spots. Children enjoy running races, playing ball, or even jumping rope if the weather
allows. In fact, if time and weather are not major factors, let your children set the pace when traveling... Let your children:
Include your children in overall vacation planning. One way to do this is to give each child five wishes. Although the final choices belong to the adult, of course, you can accommodate at least one, maybe two, of each child's wishes in your trip. If you can, however, underplan your trips, leaving room for spontaneity. This makes travel a time of sharing and togetherness. Other suggestions: 1. Try to spend some time alone with each child. 2. Plan a few games for car or plane, restaurant, and rainy days. 3. Have an "art pack." This can be as simple as a folder with colored paper, postcards, and colored pencils for the car or restaurant to quite elaborate for the motel room. Make certain they know ahead of time which is which to avoid whining and nagging. 4. Have rainy day plans. If you are spending a rainy day in a motel room, plan a party. You can make the better part of the day fun, rather than disappointing, if you:
And don't forget to meet the needs of the youngest member of the family. Often this child is forgotten and/or overruled. More about Children
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