Mommy Mondays: Car Trip

Now that Halloween is over, we're rolling right into the winter holidays.  Which of course means it's time to start planning our end of the year road trip to visit the inlaws for Christmas.

Last year, a mere 6 months after Thatbaby's birth, we dodged out of making the trek up, but this year we're not as lucky.  Not only that, but Thatboy is also pushing for a trip out to Palm Desert when we return.  That's a lot of car time for 2 small ones.

Our last long car trip was to Yosemite in August, and it had its highlights and lowlights.  Thatkid is rarely a problem, although car trips do remind me to stop wishing Thatbaby would hurry up and talk.  Thatbaby is less able to be distracted than his older brother.  But he's going to be 4 months older when we make the drive.

Car rides have gotten easier for us recently.  There's less screaming, to an extent.  Thatbaby still is not especially happy if he wakes up in the car.  In my mind he's saying something along the lines of "how is it possible that I was in the car before I fell asleep and here I am STILL IN THE CAR hours later!?"  We listen to A LOT of Hamilton, which seems to keep both kids (and adults) pretty happy.  But these trips are usually an hour or two, not many many many hours.


So I'm already planning!  I've been stashing away small toys/activities to keep them occupied, making playlists of music that they enjoy.  I'm also thinking of taking a page from a friend of mine who maps out playgrounds along their routes for stopping and getting some energy out.   And lets not kid ourselves, a lot of happiness is going to depend upon the quantity and quality of snacks available to them.  As usual I'm always open to new ideas to make the trip more enjoyable for all of us!