My review of 38 hrs alone in the car with a 2 & 3 yr old
howleyshell
member
It went soooo much better than I anticipated!
Things that I highly recommend if you ever plan to try a long car trip:
1. DVD player. We got a cool contraption that is both a carrying case and a thing to string the player up between the 2 head rests from the front seat. Worked great.
2. Audio book for you so you don't go bonkers listening to the kid movies. I hooked my ipod up to my stereo and put all the sound to the front left speaker and no one in the back seat complained. I got so into the book I was listening to that I was actually disappointed to stop for gas/food/breaks.
3. A bucket of toys/books/etc in between the 2 car seats so they can access it easily. The best hits were magna doodles, tag reader, and sticker books.
4. Lap desks so they could draw and color in their car seats more easily. Got them for $13 each at Hobby Lobby.
5. "presents" to barter with and keep things fun and entertaining. I wrapped a few new sticker books, some of those wonder markers (Toy Story), and....
6. SILLY PUTTY!!! I haven't seen this stuff in years but they played with it for EVER in the back seat!
7. Sun shades. Who knew the retractable sun shades were as much fun as a toy as they are helpful when you've got one tot stranded on the hot side of the car.
8. Jacket for you in the front seat so your arms don't freeze off while you're keeping the AC cold enough to keep them cool in the back (and sitting in the sun)
They did GREAT.
No fits.
We listened to music, "read" books (I recited them from memory and Dylan turned pages in the back seat), sang songs, you name it. And it really didn't feel like work like I thought it would. They did fine not being entertained non-stop. They looked out the window, played with toys on their own, sang songs on their own, etc.
They actually behaved better at my Mom's, brother's, Dad's and the hotel than they do at home.
On the way out I carefully orchestrated stops where the kids could run and play for a bit. Honestly? They would have done fine without it. We did the 16 hour trip out in 2 days and had I not gotten sick I would have done the whole thing back in just one day. They really were troopers and handled long periods in the car just fine.
I even put Jace in a pull up (he's been potty trained for a year now) just in case and he never once needed it.!
I learned that I CAN handle them alone under pretty much any circumstance and I also learned that they're WAYYY more flexible than I give them credit for.
So if your tots are older and you've considered a vacation but hesitated due to the fear factor I highly encourage you to GO FOR IT!
We had a blast!
Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
Re: My review of 38 hrs alone in the car with a 2 & 3 yr old
Awesome!!!
My girls would be good like that, but the little guy needs another year! LOL!
You are brave.
)
I am glad things went so well!! And glad to have you back!!