Traveling With Kids

[sanensatisfied]

How easy is it to find babysitting while on the road should I need it? I will be the only adult with a 2.5 year old. I plan to continue my soap/spa products business and I might need some time to devote to making product. I won't need a lot of time but maybe once a week or so.

Also while driving from place to place, for long stretches, how will I be able to keep my daughter entertained and safe in the RV?

 

[compassrose]

Video!

 

[rvwandering]

We traveled for a year with a 3 year old. It was a long time ago and we only used a babysitter once but at that time the wives of park rangers would babysit. Not sure where you could check now.

As far as safety and entertainment for your daughter while traveling, a car seat is a must. Let her run around before traveling so she's tired enough to sleep through part of the journey. Stop whenever she gets restless for some fun time before driving again. We kept a box with small toys and books that our daughter could play with as we were driving. She was a very active child but got accustomed to long drives but we didn't do it for days in a row and had a lot of down time at campgrounds.

 

[sanensatisfied]

Thanks! This is getting more real to me every day. I've only had really 3 concerns about this life and 2 of them have been removed. Exciting!

 

[Patrick46]

Video!

NO!!! This is not the answer.

We traveled coast to coast nearly every summer with our kids, back when there wasn't such things as mobile videos or X-boxes. (We live on the West coast, and went back East for family reunions)
To me, all this stuff does is feed their heads with crap that the media want's 'em to learn, know, and to eventually BUY! (I don't trust the media one bit!)

We did alot of sightseeing on our travels. We had boxes full of all kinds of books, lots of crayons with reams of colouring books and paper for creating their own worlds on, and various traveling gameboards to play. We stopped at historical monuments, places of interest, and museums are always great places to learn from too. Oftentimes, there are special events to check out along the way too, such as city wide festivals, parades, fairs, and goofy events like cardboard boat races or kenetic sculpture racing. (those are always great fun!!)
I'm so proud to say that our (now all grown) kids are very outgoing, openminded, and creative people. They've been all over the US & Canada in our RV's and vans, and all love to travel. They've had some great adventures and I think a big part of this was how much time we spent together as a family doing things and going places.

I hope all the best for you and your daughter, and hope you have lots of fun and have a great time bonding while seeing the world!

 

[compassrose]

My kids are imaginative, creative people. One is an artist. I was very careful what videos they watched. When chosen carefully, video can be good. There are junk books just like there is junk video. There is junk on the internet as well as very good information. Anyone who lumps all types of video, book or internet into one group (either good or bad) is ignorant and short-sighted.

And as far as that goes.... You BOUGHT colouring books for your kids? Now THAT is terrible! Talk about something "feed their heads with crap that the media want's 'em to learn, know, and to eventually BUY!" Mass produced colouring book promote stereotypes and encourages conformity.

 

[riffraff]

Handheld video games are fun. A Nintendo 3ds or PS Vita are amazing devices which provide endless hours of entertainment. Amazon now offers a kindle for children that is rugged and they'll replace if it gets broken.

 

[Patrick46]

And as far as that goes.... You BOUGHT colouring books for your kids? Now THAT is terrible! Talk about something "feed their heads with crap that the media want's 'em to learn, know, and to eventually BUY!" Mass produced colouring book promote stereotypes and encourages conformity.

Gosh!!!* :s

I never realized how much colouring pictures of bunnies, flowers, trees and rainbows was gonna do to distort my children's views on the world as a whole. I guess I was wrong to promote such self expressions.


btw...you were the one who said "Videos", without explaining the vitues of educational materials that are available.

I just know that for too many folks, plunking their kids down in front of videos is their way of babysitting them regardless of what they may be watching.


(sorry for hyjacking your thread Sanensatisfied.)