I'm Mom, Me

 

Hey there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and maybe a day or two of rest thereafter. Whether you did all the cooking, or all the traveling, it’s important to take a breather. I know I needed one!

While I didn’t gather any official statistics, I know this is a busy time of year for travel and many of us will spend quite a bit of time in our cars, dining out, or just lounging with friends and family. This is wonderful and usually quite enjoyable especially for adults, but for toddlers and preschoolers, maybe not so much.  I know many of moms {myself included} who have rushed through meals and hurried through conversations to avoid any potential melt downs or outbursts. Kids may be able to handle idleness for a while, but at some point, they are likely to get antsy… hello childhood!
 

I've had a few of these travel baggies made up for quite some time and have used them to fill downtime at restaurants or anywhere else we may have to wait. I recently spotted some premade travel packs at Target and snatched up a few more to add to my stash.

 The concept is simple…fill a zip loc bag with things your child enjoys and only use it when you have that bag out. So, in one of my bags, I have a notepad, funny pen, stickers, and sticky notes. While waiting for food at a restaurant, we can draw pictures, do some stickering, play tic tac toe or another easy game and my children are usually entertained by this, at least for awhile. Because they don’t see that pen or notepad regularly, it has that “novelty” effect each time I pull it out. I have several bags made up so we aren’t using the same ones over and over and I keep them in a little bin so I can grab one easily on the way out the door. I also keep a few in my car.

 

Now, aside from these travel baggies, snacks are a must for keeping children relatively calm and entertained. However, if you’ve ever been driving and didn’t have another adult to hand out the goods, you’ve probably been bombarded with all kinds of requests. To alleviate some of this, I keep trays, bowls, and cups in my car at all times. The trays come in handy for all kinds of things, from eating to reading, to coloring. The bowls are a great way to dish out food and keep the requests at bay for a bit while I drive.

For $3, we can take the master of the grill talk!

Trays from Target {Dollar section...but I got these in the spring. I also have these trays that I use a lot for school work too.} Looks like they are out of stock now, but check back if interested...they usually restock them.}
Bowls from Target {Dollar section}
Blue bin from Dollar Tree

What other tips do you have for keeping children entertained on the go?