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I am about to take a major step in mother-ism. I am taking my 6 and 3 year old on vacation this summer to visit family and the trip is a 2 day drive. BTW, I am doing this solo. There is no one that can go with me and hubby is unavailable. So, either I sit home all summer and miss out on a cool 4th of July vacation with tons of family and a lake cottage, or I brave this journey and just "git-r-dun"! Any advice out there? Has anyone done this yet with their little ones? I do have some plans for safety as I journey and tricks to keep the kids entertained along with way, but I have to admit that I am a bit nervous about what can go wrong. The trip is 1100 miles.

I'm not sure how fond you are of bribery, but I am one of four kids (my daughter is still too young for this to really apply right now for her) and whenever we went on long family trips, my mother would buy LOTS of activities for us as well as little prizes. She made sure to show us ALL of it before we left, and then we could get a new one once every so many hours (up to you, of course -- she never said "every hour" or gave us any such benchmarks!). In any case, it worked like a champ. "Do you want that Annie coloring book? You need to be nice to your sister for the next 30 minutes...!" That kind of thing.

One thing that was critical for us, though, was that there was some things that were clearly earmarked for each of us. So, for example, I knew the Annie coloring book would eventually be mine if I was good, and my sister had the Lucky Care Bear, and another sister had the Rainbow Brite ... etc., etc.! So if you aren't already turned off about the bribery idea, you may want to be sure you have different and specific prizes and games for each of your kids. Besides, don't think of it as bribery -- think of it as rewards for the good behavior you know they will show!

As for safety, I've done many long road trips like this, sometimes alone, and one of my rules of thumb is that I never get off for gas, food, anything unless I can see the sign for the place from the highway. I also try not to get off where there is only one game in town. The more fast food restaurant signs, the better -- just because it tends to mean it is busier. Also, I always dial my husband right before I get out of the car, and keep my phone in my pocket, so that if something happens all I have to do is quietly hit "send" again and my husband will get the call. I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist, I suppose, but I try to be hyper-aware of what MIGHT happen to try to ensure that it doesn't.

What else ... if I won't be stopping for the evening until dark, I fill up my tank one last time before the sun sets. If I get to a hotel at night, I see who delivers, and I meet them in the lobby, rather than going out alone and risk having someone see my go to the hotel by myself. Which is similarly why I meet the delivery guy in the lobby ... Also, I have been at hotels where people's cars were broken into overnight (And these are good hotels!), so I always EMPTY my car, even if it means asking for help and using the big brass carts. Even at hotels that don't typically have "help" available, I am sure that when you walk in with two kids they will do whatever they can to help you out!

Good luck, and sorry for rambling. I hope this was at least remotely helpful, though. Enjoy your summer!

Good for you for going!

Those are some great recommendations and ideas from BostonGirl too. I'm going to have to file those away for myself to use too.

One of the best things I've found is the DVD player for the car. Even if you have to borrow one from somebody it's a great thing to have. The time passes so quickly when they are watching one of their favorite movies in the back seat. And if you can't find one to borrow - maybe consider getting some sing along CDs. It may not be your favorite music - but again - it may entertain them enough to pass some time.

One thing I would add is to bring a cooler and put it in the front seat with juice boxes and some small snacks for the girls. We have found when we travel with ours that it prevents us from having to run into the convenience store every time we stop for gas.


Good luck!!

I drive with the kids by myself alot. But its only a 3 hour drive. We have made a 13 hour trip. But we split it into 2 days as to not tire out the kids too bad.
The best thing in the world for car trips is the dvd players. If your car doesn't have one, you can usually hook up a portable dvd player in your car. If you have something like a nintendo ds, that works wonders. If you like me, I don't like to go straight to the video type things. I want them to try and use their imaginations on car trips as well.
The 1st time we took Jacob to the beach, he was 2, it was a 6 hour drive. we took a bag full of stuff we normally didn't let him play with, but he really liked, like the remote to the tv. lol
Snacks and drinks help alot. Coloring book, leap pads, anything you know they like to do, but don't usually sit down long enough to do it. kwim?
any kinds of car games. try to teach them to play i spy. jacob likes to try and count all the cars as we pass. they really tickled at themselves doing that.
I don't know if the library here has them, but you could get some books on cd/tapes.
Use the rest stops. Take some kind of outside toy, bubbles, balls and take a short rest!

Oh and one more thing, if you don't mind blowing a few bubbles in the car you can play the magic bubble trick. This works great for long waits in drs offices as well!!
when the kids aren't looking blow a few bubbles. They love trying to figure out where the magic bubbles came from.

Hope that helps. Good luck!!

I do have a DVD player, that IS INDEED a must have. Bostongirl - I love the suggestion of having someone just recently called and on my cell when stopping in critical moments - good idea! I do plan on keeping in touch every hour along my route for both days with the people expecting me. You really have some great advice - I can tell you have done this before. I have often taken 2 and 3 hour trips solo with my girls, but never this long before. I guess my biggest fear is just having the car break down in an area with no cell service. But how can you really prevent that if you have serviced your car and prepped?

Deep breath - - here goes nothing!

These are great suggestions. I'll have to remember these myself. I have only taken one trip alone with my lo...it was 7 hours and he was still rear facing, which was a pain. I drove most of the trip after his bedtime so he would sleep. We had to stop once, and I also had DH on the phone when we pulled over.

I put some of his fav toys away in his closet about a week before the trip, then packed them in the front seat. So, when he started getting antsy, I handed one back to him. He seemd comforted by his long lost favorites.

Good luck!!!

P.S. yall - - I found an item at Babies R Us that is a portable potty for long trips. Its a foldable seat with a bag thing that attaches to the bottom, so if you have an emergency in a remote area (which happens ALL THE TIME) you can just pull to the side of the road and let them go ASAP. That was another thing I worried about, especially with my 3 year old - she is impecible timing potty queen. FYI!

Oops - forgot the link - check this out . . . .

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?product...04151aca7943e55c09bb

Glad I could help. I was afraid you'd all think I was (am!) paranoid, but really I think I just watch too many "48 Hours" Mysteries! hah hah

The travel potty is brilliant ... will have to remember that when we need it!

Good luck, safe travels, and HAVE FUN!

one step ahead also carries those portable potty's if you wanted to order one.