I'll be taking a short break for the next few days, as DH and I make a mad dash for points south to see our favorite band. Up close. Can't wait!
In the meantime, I hope to revisit the post I drafted but turned out to be Blogger's mid-afternoon snack. It was brilliant (of course!) and about family traditions. I reminisced about my childhood, and discussed the traditions we are trying (or accidentally) instilling in our own family. So, think about that. 'Tis the season!
Oh yes. And Advent wreaths and calendars and such. Has anyone gotten theirs together? Definitely something I need to address when we return. That and Christmas presents. Making the lists, ordering, etc. I think I'm about 1.5% done. Yes, not too thrilling.
We plan to drive up to my parents for Christmas this year. 12 hours in a car with 5 children ages 9 and under makes me petrified. We plan to use books on cd, but no dvd's. Any other ideas out there? I'd be most appreciative! Heck, I may even do a "contest" thingy where we try some of the ideas, and give a prize to the idea that worked best.... but I wouldn't know the winner until after New Year's. Would you remember? Me neither.
:)
10 comments:
For a good kid's gift, I recommend Karen Santorum's book "Everyday Graces" (you can get it on Amazon if your local bookstore doesn't have it). It's a collection of short stories, poems, and chapters from longer books (like "Anne of Green Gables" and "Pinocchio") tat teach kids good manners and polite behavior. I'm getting it for my boyfriend's siblings, because they range in age for 9 to 15 months, so it looks like a good bet. I love it, and I'm 24! Good for reading aloud. Just thought I'd pass the suggestion along.
Are you morally opposed to letting your children watch movies in the car? Because I was...until we had to drive to Boston (about 8 hours from here) for my brother's wedding last month. After, hemming and hawing about getting the little dvd player for the van we finally went for it, and it was great. It made the trip about 100% better than our previous long movie-less trips. And, I am not dreading our next long trip with the kids. So, it may be something worth considering...Just a thought!
*smiling* no, I am not morally opposed to letting them watch dvd's in the car. It's just that we did it once, and found that when the show was over, the kids were miserable until we turned on another show. They couldn't seem to settle in to a different activity. I just can't imagine dealing with that for 12 hours or more. A friend recommended books on cd, and since our kids already love listening to books on cd, it seemed the better choice...
I am so far from being ready for Christmas--i must get to this soon! I don't like to have a mad dash at the end!
We have a built in DVD player in our van. Besides the 14 or more hours to FL to see my parents, we're looking ahead to 18 plus hours on our move next summer to Kansas and then moving the following summer to somewhere else...
...with lots of trips exceeding three hours on a regular basis, we felt it made sense. Yes, they frequently clamor for MORE, but they do that at home too. If we get started on our journey really early, we don't put it on until later. If we're driving late at night, I turn it off and tell them to go to bed. When we were driving through the mountains, I turned it off and told them to enjoy the scenery. But 500 miles of boring highway? Nothing like 90 minutes of Looney Tunes to keep everybody happy.
OK, I realize this doesn't help you at all - you are looking for entertainment for your journey. One thing someone gave us was a cheap plastic backback filled with geography stuff (states flashcards, puzzle books, maps). That kept the kids busy for hours. Make your own travel packs for each kid: new coloring books, new markers or crayons, small puzzles, their own snacks. My kids love those dot-to-dot games where you connect the dots and make boxes and try to make more boxes than your opponent.
Hey, remember the Monk Music? It definitely put us to sleep for a while on those trips to Long Island. But seriously, I think the books on CD are a fantastic idea...
I'm re-thinking the DVD idea, Teresa and Michelle. In any case, DH has to bring his laptop and we can throw in some DVD's and the headphones and 3-way splitter, just in case. Driving through the nothingness of west Texas, it might be a good idea to turn something on for them.....
we'll see.
:)
I would recommend visiting this website: http://www.doctorfloyd.com/. We downloaded and burned episodes of this "radio show" to c.d. for a trip from Fort Worth to Atlanta last year. There were times when we'd leave the highway to get something to eat, and the kids wouldn't want to get out of the car till the episode we were listening to ended...and neither did we! They're a lot of fun.
I liked the monk music.
I met the monks who made the music!
Wait, I'm seeing a trend here...
:)
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