Heading out to the park, the beach or just to visit relatives? If you’re a parent, it’s hard not to dread a road trip when it takes roughly 2.3 seconds (give or take) for the kids to get bored and restless in the back seat.
If you don’t find a way to distract them from the trip, they’re apt to distract you — and having your attention diverted from the road to break up a back-seat squabble can be dangerous. With that in mind, here are a few ways to keep your progeny occupied while you’re on the road:
- Bring an activity bag for each kid. Let each of your children fill a bag with their favorite forms of entertainment, whether that’s video games, crayons and drawing pads or a pile of books. The only rule is that they have to be able to play with whatever they bring by themselves.
- Invest in earphones and movies. If your kids have portable DVD players, tablets or cellular phones, get each kid their own earphones and let them watch a movie of their choice. The earphones will keep the sound from bothering you as you drive.
- Plan a few stops in advance. Part of the reason that kids get so irritable in a car is that they tend to have a lot of energy. You can dissipate a little of that extra energy by planning for stops that will allow your kids to get out of the car, stretch, grab a snack or use the restroom along the way.
Unfortunately, even when you’re effective at combating the distractions posed by kids in a car, other drivers may not be so diligent. If you end up in a car wreck because another driver got distracted, make sure that you speak to an attorney before you speak to an insurance company’s adjuster.