For me, a long drive is one of life’s most tangible pleasures—smooth, unending highways fast-gliding under the wheels of your SUV as you and he drive speedily towards the setting sun. Your luggage is canvassed to the carrier and fresh breeze is whipping through your hair. A big red sun is about to melt in the sky and an old Muhammad Rafi song is crooning softly to you from the CD player as your eyes feast hungrily on green paddy fields on either side of the road.
It is a moment for your Most-Romantic-Moments memory files. You and your spouse shed your work-stresses and begin to savour your togetherness, quietly forgetting the world you’ve left behind.
It is exactly at that very moment that a fight breaks out in the back seat. Your two kids are bored and have begun entertaining themselves the only way they know how--with loud fisticuffs! You settle them with a bribe or a threat—whatever works—and return your attention to the landscape.
But barely five minutes later, a constant, rhythmic refrain plaintively drowns poor, already-dead Rafi:
“Mamma, when will we reach?”
Incandescent sunset moments lose their magic between fights and fidgets, boredom and bowels, whines and wheedles, pukes and punishments.
However, countless car journeys later, I still think driving is the best way to travel with children. Traveling by car is the best way for your children to know the rich geographical terrains, varied climates and architectures and glorious cultural differences of our country. Please do take the time to point these little things out to them as you whizz by. When you see something especially interesting, please do stop a minute and stare. Give them the opportunity to sample the tastes and smells of the places you drive by. They will get more real knowledge from the journey than they ever will from their text books!
Over the years, I have learnt some tricks that I am happy to share with those of you who like driving too. So get your car serviced and follow the Automobile Association’s checklist to a T. Map your routes and line your route-maps. Decide where to go and where to stop nights. And keep your children happy with my driving-with-kids tips:
Ready Ration
Here’s a checklist of things to keep close at hand when you drive with small kids. As your children get older, you can begin eliminating items from the list:
First Aid, toiletries, spare set of clothes, towels, wet tissues, a flask of hot water, bottles of drinking water, dry snacks such as biscuits, fresh fruits and cheese slices, toys—stuffed animals, dinky cars, travel ludo/checkers, music they like, some large print picture books and/or colouring books.
Personal Kits
Give each kid a small satchel with his/her own things and let the children use them as and when they like. Designate a shopping bag to be the dust-bin and ensure that all the wrappers and other debris are stored in this and not thrown out of the window! Empty the bag at your next rest stop.
Boredom Busters
Give each kid a specific job to do along the way. Tell the older one to check and report milestones for distance. Tell the younger sibling to report all sightings of sheep and goats. This will keep them occupied for a while until they start fighting again:
“I saw a goat—you didn’t count it!”
“I’m supposed to see goats, not you. Why are you seeing goats?”
“Because you’re too stupid to see them, ‘Stupid’!”
“MOMMAAAA! He called me Stupid!”
Play short mind-games with them
“I went to the market,” with things that they can see on the road is, I've found, always a hit. We have made up our own games like “Rhyme Time” where we make them rhyme things that they can see; “Colour List,” where they try to outdo each other by being the first to spot something green, or blue or yellow. Of course, that game always leads to a fight:
“I saw it first!”
“No, I saw it first.
“Why were you looking out of my window? Keep your eyes on your side of the road” “Momma didn’t say we had to do that.”
“Momma doesn’t have to say everything, ‘Stupid’.”
“MOMMAAAA! He called me Stupid!”
So I’ve evolved that game into the “Spelling Spree,” where they have to spell what they see. Now the “I saw it first” fight doesn’t happen as often.
“Story Road” is another game idea where they have to make up silly stories, each kid adding a sentence in turns about things that they see. Start them off and keep tracking how it goes, adding your bit here and there.
A good game should last them about half an hour or so before they begin fighting. Then, you can bribe them with a chocolate or put on some music they like. Or yell at them and tell them to play with their own toys for a while. When the chant of “When will we reach?” begins again, start another game!
Rest Stops
When you travel with kids, it is a good idea to schedule time for short rest stops every couple of hours. This lets them stretch their legs and get rid of the excess energy they have accumulated while cooped up in the car. The back seat squabbles are bound to be much reduced if they know there’s life out of the car waiting for them after a while!
Travel Tummy
Many children feel uncomfortable when travelling by car in extreme heat or on mountain roads. If you’re like me and feel guilty sedating your kids unnecessarily, the following ideas might help:
· The front seat is better than the back of the car for children who feel sick. That’s probably because the front is better ventilated and less bouncy than the back.
· Keep windows open and let your child breathe in fresh air as much as possible.
· Keep some plain, thickish, brown paper bags handy to use as barf bags.
· A wet napkin or face towel dipped in cologne helps—don’t ask me how or why!
· Don’t give your kids a heavy meal before you travel. At the same time, don’t let them travel on an empty stomach. Keep them on a light diet and supplement this with toffees, biscuits, fruits and chocolates during the drive.
· If you can, try to ensure the child has used his potty before you travel. Many children feel nauseous if their bowels aren’t clear.
· Don’t bundle up your kids or have them wear tight, uncomfortable clothes during the trip. Start off with loose waistbands and light clothing and layer them up as you go along if and when you need to. Overheating definitely leads to travel sickness!
· If your child is prone to travel sickness, do not allow her to read in the car. Reading in a moving car makes some people nauseous.
Have a good trip. And take the opportunity of the long drive to talk to your children, teach them and learn from them. Being in close confines for hours on end is a wonderful way to be together as a family!
Here’s a checklist of things to keep close at hand when you drive with small kids. As your children get older, you can begin eliminating items from the list:
First Aid, toiletries, spare set of clothes, towels, wet tissues, a flask of hot water, bottles of drinking water, dry snacks such as biscuits, fresh fruits and cheese slices, toys—stuffed animals, dinky cars, travel ludo/checkers, music they like, some large print picture books and/or colouring books.
Personal Kits
Give each kid a small satchel with his/her own things and let the children use them as and when they like. Designate a shopping bag to be the dust-bin and ensure that all the wrappers and other debris are stored in this and not thrown out of the window! Empty the bag at your next rest stop.
Boredom Busters
Give each kid a specific job to do along the way. Tell the older one to check and report milestones for distance. Tell the younger sibling to report all sightings of sheep and goats. This will keep them occupied for a while until they start fighting again:
“I saw a goat—you didn’t count it!”
“I’m supposed to see goats, not you. Why are you seeing goats?”
“Because you’re too stupid to see them, ‘Stupid’!”
“MOMMAAAA! He called me Stupid!”
Play short mind-games with them
“I went to the market,” with things that they can see on the road is, I've found, always a hit. We have made up our own games like “Rhyme Time” where we make them rhyme things that they can see; “Colour List,” where they try to outdo each other by being the first to spot something green, or blue or yellow. Of course, that game always leads to a fight:
“I saw it first!”
“No, I saw it first.
“Why were you looking out of my window? Keep your eyes on your side of the road” “Momma didn’t say we had to do that.”
“Momma doesn’t have to say everything, ‘Stupid’.”
“MOMMAAAA! He called me Stupid!”
So I’ve evolved that game into the “Spelling Spree,” where they have to spell what they see. Now the “I saw it first” fight doesn’t happen as often.
“Story Road” is another game idea where they have to make up silly stories, each kid adding a sentence in turns about things that they see. Start them off and keep tracking how it goes, adding your bit here and there.
A good game should last them about half an hour or so before they begin fighting. Then, you can bribe them with a chocolate or put on some music they like. Or yell at them and tell them to play with their own toys for a while. When the chant of “When will we reach?” begins again, start another game!
Rest Stops
When you travel with kids, it is a good idea to schedule time for short rest stops every couple of hours. This lets them stretch their legs and get rid of the excess energy they have accumulated while cooped up in the car. The back seat squabbles are bound to be much reduced if they know there’s life out of the car waiting for them after a while!
Travel Tummy
Many children feel uncomfortable when travelling by car in extreme heat or on mountain roads. If you’re like me and feel guilty sedating your kids unnecessarily, the following ideas might help:
· The front seat is better than the back of the car for children who feel sick. That’s probably because the front is better ventilated and less bouncy than the back.
· Keep windows open and let your child breathe in fresh air as much as possible.
· Keep some plain, thickish, brown paper bags handy to use as barf bags.
· A wet napkin or face towel dipped in cologne helps—don’t ask me how or why!
· Don’t give your kids a heavy meal before you travel. At the same time, don’t let them travel on an empty stomach. Keep them on a light diet and supplement this with toffees, biscuits, fruits and chocolates during the drive.
· If you can, try to ensure the child has used his potty before you travel. Many children feel nauseous if their bowels aren’t clear.
· Don’t bundle up your kids or have them wear tight, uncomfortable clothes during the trip. Start off with loose waistbands and light clothing and layer them up as you go along if and when you need to. Overheating definitely leads to travel sickness!
· If your child is prone to travel sickness, do not allow her to read in the car. Reading in a moving car makes some people nauseous.
Have a good trip. And take the opportunity of the long drive to talk to your children, teach them and learn from them. Being in close confines for hours on end is a wonderful way to be together as a family!
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