tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385734613853151197.post3296441639849158908..comments2024-03-05T10:19:16.909-07:00Comments on Ask Your Dad Blog: Dad's Guide To Road Trips With ToddlersJohn Kinnearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10217999409806454795noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385734613853151197.post-87183985193485170642012-08-11T18:28:50.049-06:002012-08-11T18:28:50.049-06:00You're 100% bang on the money about 'kid t...You're 100% bang on the money about 'kid time' being tortuously longer in a car than it really is. The same drive that as a kid, seemed to take a week, I now do regularly, never taking longer than 45 minutes LOL. <br /><br />A little tip from my own childhood, more applicable for the years you're facing than right now, but.. DON'T let your child read in the car. No matter how bookwormy, no matter how blissfully silent it keeps them. Because that blissful silence lasts at most 15-20 minutes before the inevitable pull over for Bookworm to barf routine starts LOL! <br /><br />Something about the ear-fluid-movement discord versus the eye-book-movement causes this, I'm sure there's some solid science in there, but I can only speak from my own experience - having overheard my mother say 'here we go, bang on time, 20 minutes and she barfs' I actually keyed into that timeframe and practically barfed on cue. Mum always knew what was coming and planned ahead for when Dad had to pull over - damp cloth in a plastic bag for wiping, spare bottle of water for rinsing, small muesli bar or dried fruit and nuts for the next inevitable stage - five minutes later when Bookworm Barfer starts moaning repeatedly "I'm huuuuuuungry!!" because they've just thrown up a perfectly good breakfast and are now genuinely hungry again. I repeated this cycle throughout my entire childhood, every single journey... and we drive big distances in Australia. What constitutes 'an afternoon out' for us, would cause people in smaller countries to inform their families and redirect their mail. Imagine tolerating this repeated routine not just for 6 hours, but up the entire east coast of Australia, closer to 6 DAYS! I made it, I barfed myself silly, I still have the stained childhood books to prove it :D<br /><br />Why they never took the books off me in the first place, I don't know. I guess the alternative - amusing myself by kicking the back of my mothers seat - was less bearable. But once the reading in the car habit is established, it'll be HELL trying to get that book off them and get them amused by any other non-barf-inducing means.<br /><br />Ooooh and another killer line worth a try, whatever your childs immediate whinge is, "Wait until we're on the road". Stunning. I used to sit in baffled (no doubt blissful for my parents) silence, trying to determine what on earth that meant! Surely the road outside our house is a road? Or do they mean, a 'main' road? Or does it have to be the highway? At what point can I whinge again? Mum would get at least a peaceful start to the journey just with that kick-ass phrase, that never upset me because it wasn't a 'NO'. Happy traveling, carry extra plastic bags just in case! :Dlifelike001https://www.blogger.com/profile/05622238412053536482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385734613853151197.post-52849864132415246972012-07-02T19:32:11.968-06:002012-07-02T19:32:11.968-06:00Fly.Fly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7385734613853151197.post-41981593543880351952012-05-30T12:04:15.396-06:002012-05-30T12:04:15.396-06:00"If my wife is listening to screaming kids I ..."If my wife is listening to screaming kids I had better be listening too." is literally the funniest thing I have seen all day. Thank you for that.Jay Dubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634382921276132895noreply@blogger.com