Strollerderby : roadtrips

Babble Talk: Road Trip 101

Gwynne Watkins — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:46:00 GMT

Planning a road trip this summer? According to a poll we took last month, 50% of Babble readers think that car trips are the best way to travel with kids. But of course, they require some strategy -- not to mention snacks, games and a variety of portable electronics. This week, we have two Babble Bests to help you on your way: Babble Best Forward-Facing Car Seats, which gives you the lowdown on the safest, comfiest toddler seats, and Babble Best Audiobooks, which recommends five books-on-CD that will charm the entire family.

Where are you driving to this summer, and what tricks do you use to keep your family entertained?

Road Trip! Loading Up the Kids and Hitting the Highway

Patti — Fri, 25 May 2007 21:02:00 GMT

How we went on a road trip every summer before the advent of the portable DVD player is beyond me, but we did it and I look back on those trips pretty fondly, if for no other reason than the fact that I could read for ten straight hours without anyone hassling me to clean my room. Still, I think times have changed for the better; I'm utterly shameless about breaking out a movie if we're driving for more than a couple of hours, and I think I pack better snacks than my mom or my aunt did on our interstate treks.

This Enid, OK Eagle clip about family roadtripping brought back a slew of memories, not the least of them being the dusty leg of the trip to Grandma and Grandpa's that dragged through Oklahoma (but I'm sure Enid is lovely). I remember being stuffed in a car without enough seatbelts to go around, eating bologna sandwiches on soggy bread, and crashing on the floors of distant cousins and at inns best described as "Motel 4". I remember that the McDonald's in Gallup, NM was decorated in pink and blue for reasons I can't begin to understand. I remember doing a lot of Mad Libs. I remember the time we camped out at a family reunion, and more license plate and alphabet finding games than I can count.

Roadtripping with kids nowadays is so much less work, to be honest. They draw on their Magnadoodles, I knit, he drives. They nap, he naps, I drive. They get squirrelly, I throw in a movie, we push through 'till dinnertime. By the time they outgrow the Magnadoodles they'll have grown into roadkill bingo, and that'll probably last us until they're old enough to spend an entire trip entertaining themselves by rolling their eyes and muttering about how lame it is to have to travel with family.

Carsick Kids

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:14:00 GMT

Do you have one of those kids that tends to get carsick? If they do Laurel (a.k.a. Roadtrip Mom) has some helpful hints. She actually has a variety of ideas ranging from peppermints and ginger snaps to actually sticking your head out of the window. (I've done that when I was really drunk before. I swear it helps.) She also suggests keeping a tub of wipes and an extra set of clothes handy.

Laurel had a contest (which I missed when I was slacking last week) and her readers came up with some hilarious stories about their kids puking in the car. You should go check them out.

My kids don't get carsick that often, but since the boy has a tendency to barf a lot I try to keep extra clothes around anyway. This came in particularly handy when the twins came down with some sort of stomach flu the day we drove from Atlanta to Washington D.C. Ick. I wish I would have had the Fabreeze that day.