How I Keep My Cotton Picking Mind While Traveling with Kids
y’all.
Y’all…
It is 9:12 pm and I am writing this from the Wonderland of Alcoa, Tennessee after a car ride that started at 7:30.
In the morning.
That’s right. That’s almost a 14 hour difference if you are exceptionally good at the math.
There are times that writing is therapeutic to me. When I find myself in a Courtyard by Marriott on the edge of an airport is one of those times.
When I opened up my laptop and took to writing I had no idea what to tell you all but then it hit me that perhaps the fact that I am avoiding my children right now is precisely what we should talk about. For while I am typing away the kiddos are down at the pool presumably practicing their back stroke and having a truce from the grievous acts that occured in the car.
Don’t get me wrong, I know we have good kids. I know one of them has autism and I know they both are in those awkward preteen years. I get it. But in the midst of the fighting and the attitudes and the rule for spacial domination, I can forget and can’t for the life of me remember why exactly we wanted to take this trip? Not to Tennesee but the journey of parenthood altogether. Was life really more horrible than this?, this exact moment seemed more idyllic in my mind back then? Someone, please fill me in. I think I need a reminder.
There are times in traveling with children that it is hard. Scratch that. Go back. Replace hard with excruciating. I know that Instagram or Facebook or this blog can paint some picture-perfect images of family life on the road.
But perfect is hardly the case. We argue. A lot. We have some attitudes that are hard to contain. We have bad habits, mean spirits, and hot tempers. We are human in need of grace. We are broken.
There are times being broken when I, as a mother, find myself especially broken. When I want to take names or wring someone’s throat or just scream. But I can’t because we are all together in a teeny car or a teeny hotel room and losing it just won’t fix anything.
Early on in our days of travel I knew that I was going to have to do something if we were all going to survive vacations and traveling together. Thankfully I have found ways to deal with the times that I need to collect my self. I am an introvert by nature and so many times I find myself overwhelmed with having to be with people (even if they are my people) and needing to be my best for them.
Enter Dad.
When I need a break I have Nick take them to the pool. Or to go outside. Or anywhere. When I have been with the kids all day while Nick has been working there are sometimes days when I need him to take the kids. We still have hard days even when we’re traveling and when we’re having a hard autism day it takes an even bigger toll on me.
Enter Videos.
During the day when I need some time to have a breather I will often plug in the laptop and have the kids watch something on Netflix or on Amazon Prime.
Enter playgrounds.
Finding playgrounds in the areas that we travel to has proven to be one of our greatest highlights. You get to interact with the people who live where you are and there are some serious playgrounds around the country! Fresh air and exercise always makes us all feel and behave better. Many times I will play with the kids or walk around the playground while they’re playing but if I have work to do I will sometimes bring a journal and sketch out blog ideas I have.
Enter the bathroom.
Of course this is desperate but if I need some private time I will sometimes just lock myself in the bathroom. It’s just like being at home, teehee. This at least affords me time to read the bible or a magazine or pretend I am not holed up in a hotel bathroom to try to fend off the little rascals outside of the door. I don’t exercise this option but find I do use it more when we are doing homeschool on the road and we are butting heads a lot about work.
Thank goodness for the library.
If you are a homeschooling family and you are traveling. You should find the local library. It should be one of your first stops. I remember making this observation when we were traveling north of Chicago. Nick had a meeting and we weren’t allowed in our hotel yet so the kids and I had an entire day to roam around. We found a library and spent the better part of the day there. So many books with time on our hands to sit and enjoy. Games and puzzles and toys to play with. Interesting scenery and things to see that aren’t at our library. It was such a great time. Pair that with the fact you have to whisper, it makes it really hard to have a whisper battle with your sibling which is sometimes a big win for us!
Enter Working Out.
A lot of our trips we are traveling with Nick for work which consequently means that we do have a rental car but it is in Nick’s name and therefore I am not allowed to drive it. This is fine with me actually because having no where to go during the day means that 1) I can’t spend extra money just loitering around town shopping and 2) we have no choice but to get school work done if we are hotel bound.
On the days that we are hotel bound though it can frequently feel like a prison sentence. Not having anywhere to go when you have things to do and cooperative kids is not that bad. Enter day 5 of not being able to go anywhere with kids who really don’t want to be doing the same thing again and it feels like a life sentence.
I find that working out (with or without the kids) helps keep the peace, not only with my inner self but with the kids. Also, working out outside is an added bonus as we all get some fresh air and Vitamin D, we clear our heads, get out our wiggles, and all together feel better.
Things we have done to work out? Well, I will take the kids to the hotel gym either in the late morning or early afternoon. There is hardly ever anyone there at those times. The kids feel super cool getting to work out with mom in the gym and I get to get my workout in. Run. Most times hotels are on an access road making walking or running convenient. Also, we sometimes have relay races in the parking lot grassy areas or we find games the hotel has on loan. We’ve found hotels have things like frisbees, cornhole, tennis racquets, and other things if we just ask.
So those are some of the ways I have found to get even a couple of minutes peace and quiet to have time to settle my thoughts, pray, regroup, and then head back in to be a referee between the two while we are couped up trying to get school done or whatever adventures we decide to go out and have.
If you have any more ideas for how to keep your sanity while traveling please, hook a sister up! I NEED them! <insert picture of a crazed Lindsay over here pulling out her hair">
