|
1034 miles
16.5 hours 5 kids 1 Moppy -17 degreesChallenge Accepted! I hit the open road yesterday with the 5 kiddos, over 700 miles just on I-80 alone, over 1000 miles total, to grandmother’s house we went! The kids were amazing little travelers. We lucked out, but they are also used to long distance trips. Here’s a few of my traveling tips: Drive at sleep times! The more the kids are able to sleep the faster the trip will go. If you leave early enough, or drive through the night, they fall asleep more often. I left by 5 am. They fell back asleep before breakfast. Also, this lessens your desire to stop. Cuz really, you’ll be tired mid afternoon but who’s gonna stop that early in the day! Press onward! Don’t pack many things to do. I know this seems weird, but I’ve found the more toys and movies I bring, the more fighting and unrest there is. I spend more time appeasing children with more toys. They get used to doing nothing. They are quieter. (And, benefit, learn to be bored, or look out the window.) If they are sleeping, stop for NOTHING!!!! And I mean nothing! |
 |
When you have to pee but the baby is asleep
Remember, don’t let screaming bother you. They are in a 5 point harness. They can’t grab your leg and stop you. This thought is quite liberating. Also, if you turn the radio up loud enough, you can’t hear them. “Oh good! They’ve stopped crying!”
Keep driving. Keep driving. Keep driving. No matter how boring I-80 is, or Nebraska in general, it’s better than loading kids in and out of a motel. A little advanced tip: Make it super hard to contemplate stopping. For instance, I didn’t pack an overnight, just in case we stop, bag. The thought of unloading the entire car to find jammies kept me focused.
Thank goodness that Nebraska is full of tractors, cows, and large hay bales. This happens to be kid #5’s favorite things in the entire world. Thanks Nebraska!
As for Iowa, I guess they never received my open letter on FaceBook a few years ago about coffee. So I’ll write it again: Dear Iowa, there are these fancy drinks called espressos, lattes, and mochas. They help people stay awake. People drink these a lot and pay a lot of money for them, especially when they need the boost. There’s even a franchise called “Starbucks”. Worst case, (I mean, local is better, but beggars can’t be choosers) look into putting a few on I-80! (Insider tip to any investors out there!)
The kids traveled SO well, there was less than 10 minutes of unrest amongst the crew. There was small talk throwing one of the crew members overboard but thankfully for him (I’m not naming names here), he calmed down and eventually fell asleep. No talk of mutiny either!
Just the 7 of Us 