Traveling with Kids

We're traveling folk here at the House of Frink. Kaylynn took her first plane ride at 9 weeks and we've pretty much been going ever since. Before the age of 4, she flew to Cleveland, Portland OR, Virginia, Seattle, Santa Fe, and Portland ME. I tried like the dickens to get her overseas with us, but Brian put his foot down. Ben hasn't been quite so lucky, only making it to Santa Fe & Maine, but he's definitely clocked up some hours in the car. Traveling with kids is not always the most fun, or the easiest, but I think in the long run, it is worth it. Here's a few tips that I've amassed through the past (almost) 5 years of kid trips. For flying: 1. Pick your flight times to coincide with either naps or eating. Let's face it, I'm happiest when eating or sleeping, so why wouldn't our little ones be the same. This also helps with babies, as the swallowing action will help prevent ear clogging. If you just don't have the luxury of picking your flight times (the cheapest flights are always at weird times, right?!) pack a binky for the babes or have a sippy of water on standby. 2. iPads or in-flight sat. tv can be your best friend. Yes, I know, too much screen time is not good, but honestly, on airplanes you are in tight quarters, no one wants the kids there to begin with - they are just worth it. You can call be a terrible mom if you want, but I swear by them! Also, United lets you buy DirecTV for $6.00 on some flights - money well spent in my mind, even for the adults. My money-tight husband is quick to whip out the credit card to make it a better flight. 3. In tight situations, don't forget to consult the SkyMall magazine. Not for shopping, though. Tear those pages out and turn it into seat-back basketball. No joke, when Ben was like 14 months old, we spent 45 minutes on a plane letting him throw a piece of paper into the seat-back pocket. Cheapest. entertainment. EVER. For cars: 1. If you're planning on driving, I'd say knock out as much as you can on day 1. Wake up early and hit the road running. On our trip to Colorado a few weeks ago, we left at 4am. While this may have sucked at the time our alarm went off, our kids fell back asleep in the car, waking up in time for breakfast. We plowed through 16 hours in one day and our kids were champs! 2. Section out your trip into "toy time", "screen-time", and "nap-time". Maybe our kids have driven with us enough to know our schedule, but we typically say no to screens (iPads, dvd's, etc.) until 10-11am. In the meantime, we encourage them to color, look at books, look for animals out the window, or just chill. I always go buy a few new colors, color books, or reading books. They LOVE these Melissa & Doug water coloring tablets - and they are reusable! Score! Sometime around 10:30-11, we allow screens until lunch. Previously, we would travel in my mom's car, which has an entertainment system in it. This go around, we have a new ride (sans entertainment system) and bought an iPad holder for the seat-back. It. Was. Awesome. Finally, no fighting over who gets to hold the iPad!! Pair them with bluetooth headphones (or corded ones like we did) and mom and dad can listen to music in peace! After lunch comes quiet time. They typically don't sleep too well in the car. So if we get an hour out of each of them, I consider it a success. But for some reason, after naps, they are pretty content to just "be" for a while. We'll take it. 3. Take breaks. Not only for them, but for you. Even if it's just to get a candy bar or a cup coffee, it's worth it. 4. Treats are good. I'm the first to admit that when it comes to candy/junk, I'm kinda mean about it. Do our kids get it - of course! But they'd take it every day and I'm not into that. However, when it comes to car rides, sometimes you just need it! Case in point, while heading to Breck, we stopped at a Starbucks in Pueblo for a last resort potty and caffeine break before hitting the mountains. We treated the kids to cake pops from there and I think they were pretty excited about that. Cake pops are something that are typically reserved for birthdays or preschool celebrations around these parts. Did they keep the "are we there yet's?" away? Nope, but they broke up the day, nicely. These aren't the be-all, end-all tips for traveling, and we are by no means experts, but I do think that we've been around the block a time or two and kinda know what we're doing by now.