Packing everyone into the car to move across the country isn’t easy, especially if your family includes children. Before your move-out day arrives, try following a few of these methods to keep everyone calm, comfortable, and collected.
Pack an Activity Bag
Every parent in charge of a road trip needs a bag full of fun activities, tasty snacks, and emergency items to help clean up in case of a spill. Start by grabbing a few things like word puzzles, small toys, and books that aren’t too big to carry around. Then, improve your kit with individually-wrapped snacks like fruit rollers, small bags of trail mix, and similar items. Finally, your kit should probably also include sanitizer wipes, water bottles, first aid solutions, and anything else you might need on the go. Keep your bag underneath the passenger’s seat, and pull it out anytime you need to improve the mood during your journey.
Provide Charging Solutions
Staying entertained in the modern day is as easy as keeping your devices turned on. Your kids probably each own a cell phone, game system, or similar item. Before the trip, find out what kind of plugs or batteries each of their devices needs. Make it your job to bring backup batteries, charging adapters, and anything else that will help your kids stay online. During the trip, keep an eye on battery levels – you don’t want someone to run out of power when you won’t be able to stop for several hours.
Prepare the Backseat Environment
The backseat of your car should feel like a mini oasis where your kids can relax and unwind until the trip is over. There are several things you can do to make this area more comfortable. First, start by cleaning the car thoroughly before the trip and making sure that everything is in working order. Consider dimming the light and adding privacy with basic car window tinting; that way, your little ones will be able to nap uninterrupted. Finally, provide a trash receptacle and access to things like water bottles, hand wipes, and snacks.
Keep the Mess to a Minimum
Kids build up messes easily, but that doesn’t mean they actually enjoy dealing with them. Do your kids a favor and keep the backseat clean during the trip. Whenever the whole crew gets out of the car, take a moment to throw away trash, wipe up crumbs, and place items back in their respective bags. Once or twice throughout the trip, use a car wash vacuum cleaner to remove the evidence of backseat snacking and provide a fresher environment. With a little effort, you’ll be able to give your kids the feeling of a clean and classy vacation instead of a stuffy move-out road trip.
Happy kids are usually quieter and calmer while they’re en route. As long as you keep everyone clean, fed, entertained, and well-rested, your road trip should go off without a hitch.