yah me too.
do you ever go on 6 hour road trips with them?
yah me too.
on your own? with no co-pilot?
yah. me. too.
if the thought of that makes you throw up in your single mom mouth: fear no more. after close to three years worth of said road trips: some real good. some real bad [the christmas of 2010 aka the road trip that almost forced me to tuck and roll and hitch hike the rest of the way due to the crying eighteen month old who could not be tamed for the entire six.hours.] i'm totes ready to knock on wood in the biggest.way.ever. and share ten tips on how to road trip solo with your toddler:
1. make lists. pack in advance. get your ocd on and make as many lists and piles as you need to feel totally.beyond.prepared for a blowout.car sickness.allergies.hungry.dirty.stinky.restless. road trip.
2. in the passenger seat you need to have within arms reach: snacks. toys. books. a tiny dvd player. a dollarama goody bag filled with ten dollars worth of dollarama junkarama that will float their boat for minutes apiece and buy you some non-cry time on the road when things get desperate. fave cd's. a little bevie. not a lot of bevie or else you will be pulling into every.single enroute to wait in line and pee or if you are like this single mom - pulling off the highway to let your toddler drop trou on the side of the road and pee in the grass to his tiny heart's delight. you want all of these things within arms reach because you want to drive safely and be confident knowing where all these tools are without being distracted, having to look away from the road, you get the point.
3. play games. we played i spy for about an hour today and i laughed quietly every time he said perfectly "i spy with my YIDDA eye..." i mean stop it. we play i spy with colours, shapes, and counting. it was pretty much rock solid and hey, i think he even learned something somewhere around the express ramp.
4. do not allow yourself to stress over time. if you have a set time to be somewhere, you best give yourself double the standard amount of time. stressing in the driver's seat isn't safe. it's also going to spill over into the backseat. traffic happens. hunger happens if you don't pack enough snacks. shit happens. literally. it happens between kingston and brockville and if your toddler doesn't LIKE to go away from home he waits in denial until he has a mean turtle head making contact with the britax boulevard and you saying hail mary's as you hoist him out and rush him into the service station. it all happens. so don't be stressed over time. consider it an awesome day together and roll with the traffic. the turtle heads. the punches. roll with it and get there stress-free to keep the energy calm, cool + collected in the car.
5. if your kiddo asks to get out of the car: listen. they might not be old enough to communicate clearly that they are feeling car sick. they have restless legs. they need a little fresh air. be sympathetic towards that budding communication and get off at the next enroute.
6. buy a few books that come with audio additions. i JUST tried this for the first time and was blown away. a toddler style audio book. they get to hold the actual book in their own little car seat and follow along and the audio book has different activities and games along the way. genius. it's like an audio nanny. genius.
7. before you leave: clean your casa. seriously. like. vacuum it. sweep it. clean your toilets. hang up your clothes. put away laundry. because if you drive for seven hours on the last day of a long weekend and walk in to a dirty home? ... you have enough on your plate between the drive itself, unpacking, and cleaning dirty clothes etc. don't make more work for yourself :)
8. plan your travels around your toddler schedule whenever possible. for real? if it's going to make the drive smoother, leave right after lunch before you know they will crash for a sleep - then you are sold on a quiet start to the drive and can predict a positive disposition when they wake up on the road... or if they just don't travel well, leave at bedtime, get a caffiene fix, and drive through the night. it's tough to drive a long distance with a screaming child. do what you gotta do.
9. if the child won't stop screaming. and you've tried everything. and you know they are fine. and you are about to lose it? don't lose it. chill out. start a count down. know that they are okay and you are going to get to point b safely and call it a loss and a day. just get there safely.
10. give yourself and your toddler a boatload of credit when the road trip is over. do something special to show your thanks for great behaviour. or open a bottle of wine to thank yourself for maintaining your sanity through the drive after bedtime.
so the next time you hesitate to embark on a rocking long weekend getaway because you don't know if you can stomach the what if's of road tripping with child? knock on wood in a big way. buy a bottle of red just in case. and if all else fails? i hear west jet has seasonal seat sales ;)
happy long weekend.
-kare
xo
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