Richard Davis
02-11-2004, 01:20 PM
Just viewed your snippet on CNN. Couldn't help but recall our trek in the old family truckster a few years back. Loaded up the kids and went from eastern Iowa to northwest Montana. Kids were 3 and 6 at the time.
One suggestion for parents in similar situations:
Create a goodie bag that stays in the front seat that provides "surprises" at select intervals during the long drive. The surprise may be a treat (steer away from chocolate), a special "car game" to play, a comic book, or other special gift. Mom or Dad (whoever is co-pilot) controls the goodie back and introduces something new when the need presents itself! Believe me, it helped move the miles quicker and kept them occupied with something fresh and different. It takes a little creativity on mom and dad's part to build the perfect goodie bag but the end result is alot less stress down the road!
Something else...we live about 6 hours from family. When we trek home, we'll pick up 5 instant lottery tickets and at certain mile markers each member of the family gets to "scratch and win." It gives them something to look forward to and helps the miles pass by faster. God knows, anything we can do to make the miles tick by quicker, the better, right!!??
One suggestion for parents in similar situations:
Create a goodie bag that stays in the front seat that provides "surprises" at select intervals during the long drive. The surprise may be a treat (steer away from chocolate), a special "car game" to play, a comic book, or other special gift. Mom or Dad (whoever is co-pilot) controls the goodie back and introduces something new when the need presents itself! Believe me, it helped move the miles quicker and kept them occupied with something fresh and different. It takes a little creativity on mom and dad's part to build the perfect goodie bag but the end result is alot less stress down the road!
Something else...we live about 6 hours from family. When we trek home, we'll pick up 5 instant lottery tickets and at certain mile markers each member of the family gets to "scratch and win." It gives them something to look forward to and helps the miles pass by faster. God knows, anything we can do to make the miles tick by quicker, the better, right!!??