Let's just be clear here; I have a little bit of crazy in me. I thought it would be a great idea to travel across the country with the three toddlers who were 3, 2 and 1 at the time. Oh, and did I mention that I was the only adult! Oh, and also that I was pregnant! You see, crazy.
The true motivation for this absurd adventure was that I would be dropping the kids off at my moms and having a girl's trip with two of my friends in Florida! So crazy, yes, but crazy for the sake of a few days of sanity and refreshment and much needed time with friends I hadn't seen in way too long.
Let's just dive right in, and I'll share our road trip experience with you, complete with the logistics and tips.
First, let me just tell you about the long long drive.
I woke up stupidly early (I had planned on going to bed really early the night before so I would be well rested for waking up in the middle of the night. But, alas, these things never go as planned and I got roughly 3-4 hours of sleep. No joking!), made some coffee and got myself ready. Everything was already loaded in the van, so I really just needed to put the kids into their car seats right before I was leaving.
3am: Phillip and I load all 3 kids into the van. Pax is unusually excited for being woken up (he typically cries and it takes him a good 30 minutes to transition out of sleep mode), and everyone is smiling and excited. Granted, I had been telling them about going to Grandma's house for weeks! Finally it's happening.
We tell daddy bye bye and head out on our way (Phillip doesn't come because he has to work all week. Poor guy. Missed all the excitment.)
I expected the kids to fall right back to sleep. This was not the case. Within the first hour and a half I had to stop 3 times for various reasons; Pax needed his paci, the kids were thirsty, potty break (that was also very convenient for me!).
5:00am: All three kids are finally sleeping, though Pax continues to wake up and whine about things.
5:45am: I about can't stand it any longer...I'm so exhausted I feel like I won't be able to stay awake. I stealthily turn on the white noise and drive to a fast food restaurant parking lot. I park under a light (see...I'm still safe!), make sure the doors are locked and lean my chair back. I pray that the rising sun and the stopped van won't wake the kids up, and I close my eyes.
6:00am: I hear Eliza wiggling in her car seat, but I'm way too tired to even move at this point. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know it's 15 minutes later and all three kids are awake chattering away to one another. I groan, put my seat back up and try to enthusiastically greet the kids good morning. Inside I'm rolling my eyes and grumbling about how ridiculously early these kids get up. Seriously! Is it in their genes? Why do they ALL wake up so early every single day?
All they want to do is watch tv. My fault for saying that we would eat breakfast and watch a movie when the sun came up. Why does the sun come up so early?!
6:35am:We have gone through the McDonalds drive thru where I ordered a large coffee and some hot breakfast (for myself). I park and give the kids their yummy breakfast bars, fruit, and cups full of almond milk (chocolate for Jaelyn!). I put a movie in, we take a potty break (yes, in the van. More on that later!), and get all situated for the long haul.
7:00am: Back on the road. The sun, the warm food and the hot coffee wakes me up. Plus...listening to Toy Story is quite amusing. I've seen that movie so many times, but still find myself chuckling throughout. Cute movie, classic.
I told myself, and the kids, that I wouldn't stop again until lunch time. Who was I kidding?! Not only do I have 2 potty trained toddlers, I'm pregnant....and I just downed a huge thing of coffee (not to mention all the water and Gatorade I've been drinking. Gotta stay hydrated!).
We stop 3 more times for various reasons; whiny baby who doesn't want the toys I keep throwing at her, potty break for us potty trained folks, more food.
10:00am: Eliza takes a morning nap. Surprising since she doesn't take morning naps anymore, but I'm so grateful. She's really quite whiny in the car seat.
11:00am: We've been on the road for 8 hours already, but I'm realizing that we still have a LONG way to go. Because 8 hours of being on the road with 3 kids does NOT mean that we have driven for 8 hours. I roll my eyes and shrug. What did I really expect? To make a 14 hour trip in 14 hours?! We trudge on.
For another 30 minutes anyway.
11:30am: I stop at a gas station where I get more gas, we all go potty and I give the kids their lunch.
12:00pm: Back on the road again.
I inform the kids that once they are done eating, it's quiet time. I'm hoping they will ALL take a nap. I really don't have hope that Eliza will go to sleep since she took about a 45 minute nap earlier. But a mom can still wish, right?!
Around 12:15pm I turn off the DVD with a few groans and let the kids know that it's quiet time. I stop at a gas station so I can give the kids their blankets and pillows (Pax his pacifier), and I also give them a small activity to do if they want. Books and toys. I'm still hoping they nap, but in the event that they don't, I want them to be entertained so they aren't so whiny. Long car trips at that age are hard!
2:15pm: We make it to St. Louis and I stop at a McDonalds play area to let the kids get out for awhile. I'm really starting to think that we might not make it.
2:50pm: Back on the road again!
These last several hours are the absolute worst! Pax and Eliza are seriously not having it. They are beyond over this road trip. Jaelyn is absolutely fine. Her ideal day would be sitting in front of a TV and eating snacks. She really has zero complaints (aside from when I put silly songs on for Pax instead of a movie), and it's actually quite pleasant road-tripping with her.
From 6pm until we arrive I have to stop 4 times. Pax thinks he needs to poop, but nothing is happening. I secretly think he just wants to get out of his car seat. Exclaiming poop will usually allow for that!
Constant crying from one or two little people (sometimes simultaneously) ensues the last 30 minutes. I grit my teeth and remind myself that they are toddlers...they have been stuck in their car seats all stinkin day. The poor kids are miserable. Heck, I'm miserable! I'm sure they are really having a rough time.
7:30pm: We arrive!! Most of us aren't happy, but we are all alive!
Okay, so that was the drive. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about the logistics.
How does one person successfully travel with 3 toddlers across the country?
1. Pack your own food:This will save money and it will save time. I brought lots of snacks- things I know that the kids like. I didn't care about healthy options (though we did eat some healthy things). My goal here was survival. Kids that are eating and not complaining will be happier and that will help me survive! I was able to toss the kids snacks so I didn't have to stop every single time they needed/wanted something. I didn't have to wait in line at a fast food place for every meal and we didn't have to get out to eat.
Breakfast: Breakfast bars, fruit, and almond milk
Lunch: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, fruit, veggie chips, applesauce (the kind in a pouch), cheese sticks, juice
Dinner: We pretty much skipped dinner since the kids had eaten snacks almost constantly after they woke up from their naps.
Snacks: Goldfish, fruit snacks, peanut butter and jelly filled something or other (I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was located in the fruit snack aisle!), cheese crackers, raisins
The fruit I brought were grapes, blueberries, and cuties
I brought single servings of almond milk; both regular and chocolate. We only drink almond milk since Pax has an intolerance to dairy. It's just easier that way. Plus...this milk didn't need to be kept cold before using it.
*Tip: Pack things your kids like and will actually eat. I don't recommend candy, but it also doesn't have to be the healthiest options either. Remember...the goal is survival. And one day of eating mostly junk probably won't do too much harm.
2. Bring things your kids love to do: My 3 year old loves television. Maybe too much? Yes, definitely too much. But it's something I know she can and will do for extended periods of time. Having a DVD player is a life saver for her on a long trip. She also enjoys coloring, so I made sure to bring crayons and coloring books for her. My 2 year old, on the other hand, does not like to sit and watch TV. He doesn't really like to sit at all. But that's a different story. He does, however love to listen to silly songs. So I made sure to incorporate that into our trip periodically. He doesn't do well with coloring (still tries eating the colors), but he does like playing with toy cars and dinosaurs. So I picked up a few new ones at the dollar store. The one year old was a bit more tricky. She will watch TV, but she was still rear facing so she could really only hear it. She was the hardest to keep happy. Let's just be honest, there wasn't much that would entertain her other than food and drinks.
*Tip: Bringing new items is always exciting. I recommend having a few new things for each kid (simple stuff from the dollar store), and bringing it out throughout the trip so that they have something new every few hours. It'll be fun for them and it might buy you a few minutes of quiet ;-)
3. Potty Breaks: I'm sure this is the one you've all been waiting for! How on earth did we go potty (so often) on this long road trip? Well, you may be surprised to know that the kids never actually got out of the van, except for our little excursion into the play area at McDonalds. And no, I didn't leave them alone in the van.
A toddler potty seat! Yep, that's the answer. The two older tots pottied in the little potty seat when we needed to stop. Eliza obviously just had her diaper changed in the van.
And my pregnant self?! Yep, the potty seat in the van. I kid you not, that is how we managed to make the long haul without me having to get 3 toddlers out of the van every time my pregnant body needed to potty. Luckily the kids are too young to get embarrassed about things like that ;-)
So we would do our business, then I would empty out the potty seat in the grass somewhere and wipe it out with a Clorox wipe. Easy peasy.
4. Use your debit card:We are trying to do more cash these days, in order to curb our spending. But when it comes to road trips by yourself with kids...just use your debit/credit card. If you're like me, you won't want to leave your kids alone to run in and pay, and I certainly wasn't getting them all out of the van!
5. Be Realistic: If you're going to travel with kids, whether alone or not, just go ahead and add in a few more hours. If you happen to make it sooner, great! If it takes the full 5 extra hours, well then bravo for being realistic! Traveling with kids takes a. very. long. time! You have to account for all the things; bathroom breaks, endless ridiculous needs, more bathroom breaks, food, time to stretch their legs and run off their energy.
6. Allow time for getting out: It's hard enough for an adult to sit for 12+ hours straight. It's nearly impossible for kids. You don't have to spend hours letting them out to play, but do spend about 20 minutes or so if possible. Ideally, it would be nice to let them out every few hours. But at least once on a long road trip is pretty necessary.
*Tip: Search ahead of time for a place to stop. We typically will find a nice park that the kids can play at. Or we will just look for a fast food place with a play area. But it makes it nicer to have a location already nailed down so you don't have to go searching on the road.
7. Build the excitement: It's probably not a good idea to load the kids into the van one morning and start driving ALL DAY LONG. Your kids might freak out. I find it best to build the excitement about the long road trip. A week or longer could work, but really it's up to you. I explain to the kids that in so many days we're going to go see Grandma!! And then throughout the coming days/weeks, I share specifics about our trip to Grandma's, but always keep it as exciting as possible. I let them know we will be in the van ALL day and we will get to watch movies and eat snacks and go potty in the van! They like that one. That way, as we're driving hour after endless hour, I can keep up their excitement by retelling them what we are doing, where we are going, and all the fun things we get to do on the way.
8. Don't do it!!:I'm just kidding! It was very difficult at times, but it was totally doable. And there is some pride in knowing that you can do it! People will call you crazy, and you'll feel a little bit crazy. But honestly, it's something that can be accomplished.
I was always very spontaneous before I had kids. Like...I did seriously silly things sometimes (quitting my job to travel to Canada with a friend, skydiving 8 times, mission trips to other countries at the spur of the moment, road trips with friends when I was broke as a joke....crazy, stupid things). But I didn't want having kids to keep me from doing things. Granted, having kids did bring my crazy down a few notches, and I've learned to plan things out ahead of time. But it didn't take away my desire for adventure. So if you feel the same way (or even if you don't), rest assured that you can still do things with kids. And you can still do things by yourself with kids. It will be a heck of a lot harder, and you have to plan for things to happen (like a blown tire on the highway or a toddler getting carsick, or what to do if you have to poop....), but if you want to or need to, I'm here to tell you that it's possible!
And please...feel free to share your own stories of doing crazy things with your kids or how you survive road trips with the littles. I need to know I'm not the only one ;-)
I wish I had taken more pictures of our adventure, but I didn't really even think about blogging about it until after the fact. Again, it was kind of just crazy survival mode! But I did take one!
Starting out on our road trip. You can clearly see how excited the kids are! I had a bag of toys and snacks within reach, so that I could just toss things to toddlers as needed! And with one seat stowed underneath, there was plenty of room in the back for when diaper changes and potty breaks ;-)