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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Tips for Long Road Trips
As many of us embark upon long road trips for the holidays, hoping to get some tips & tricks from those of you who are more experienced than myself.
This year will be our first road trip to Texas for Christmas so I'm really trying to plan ahead for things to bring along in the truck. With a 13 hour drive for a 2 and 5 year old, not sure what will help make the time go by easier.
Any and all suggestions are welcome!
Re: Tips for Long Road Trips
For us, all bets are off; normal rules don't apply. The kids watch movies like there's no tomorrow, play on my iPhone, eat whatever they want. You know, happiness at any cost. One day of free-for-all isn't going to hurt anyone.
Our longest trip is 9 hours (DH's parents). A couple times we've left in the evening so the kids can sleep overnight. But that has its obvious pitfalls too, namely a sleepy driver and a tired first day at the in laws.
Pack new toys, wrapped
Trader Joe's sells shelf stable 8 oz "cans" of milk in both white and chocolate. much cheaper than buying it at gas stations
pack a ton of snacks. we usually pack some grapes, cooked carrots, and then crackers, cereal, cereal bars, fruit snacks. we also allow some funds for gas station purchases.
we find that William, age 3, adores to just talk to us, as we're a captive audience.
scope out the road beforehand. DH and I made sure we know where all the rest areas are, which exits have kid friendly restaurants, about how long between major cities that have stuff to eat at. keep a map handy so you can find exits for pee stops when needed. use the internet to find any McD's/BK/etc with play lands.
put the kids suitcases near the top, or wherever is handy to reach. and put a change of your and DH's clothes handy as well. because you just don't know what may happen
fun kid CD's
we don't have a DVD player, but if you have one, lots of batteries, cords and movies
MagnaDoodle is a must
We let William pack a small backpack with his chosen toys. he's in charge of putting them away and such. the handle makes it easy for him to grab when we stick it between the car seats.
plan on the trip taking twice as long as normal, set expectations low, so you can exceed them.
Like buzzeroo said, sacrifice rules for sanity and harmony. the less tantrums the better. one tantrum ruins the whole trip.
Let me know if you have any questions. We make a 8-10 hour trip back to nowhere KS at least twice a year. Ick.