My children are counting down the days until school is out. We are planning a family vacation to the beach. The challenge for us is "when?" One of my children will be in summer school at different colleges and the other boys have baseball games, work schedules and .....on and on. A family vacation can often get pushed out of the schedule if you don't plan it in advance.
Short three-four day weekend vacations are often the best for families with older children. Car trips to vacation spots near home can be a great alternative when family schedules are full. The thought of being in a car with your family for several days or hours may not sound appealing especially when the words you here most often are, "How much longer?" and "I'm bored?" Believe me, family vacations in the car can be a calamity no matter what the age of your children.
The media age has certainly helped provide entertainment while traveling. Vehicles can be equipped with VCRs and TVs, individual headphones for listening to your favorite music or audio tapes and even video games. I can certainly understand why this would be helpful during a long car trip, but too much of it can actually negate the purpose of a family vacation. Family vacations are excellent times for mom and dad to tell family stories. It's a good time to play road games, sing songs, share music and read aloud.
Again the success for any vacation is in the planning. I can remember packing up 4 children and making all the arrangements for our annual trip to the beach. On several occasions, after everthing was loaded, I secretly wished my husband would take the kids and leave me at home. I was worn out.
Here are some suggestions for surviving 16 hours in the car without sedatives. These are tried and true ideas. Pick out a few to use on your next road trip.
1. Cut out the portion of a map with the highways you'll be traveling, then highlight the route with a yellow marker. Use as a visual aid to answer that endless question, "Are we there yet?"2. Select a book to enjoy as a family. If your children are old enough, take turns reading aloud a chapter a day. Choose several smaller books for younger children.
3. Have a scavenger hunt. Write down twenty things to find while looking out the window of the car. When you find all twenty, stop for a treat.
4. Copy a map of the United States. Find a vehicle with a license plate for each state and color it in.
5. Listen to audio tapes of classic stories and Bible stories. Discuss the character traits of the people in the tapes.
6. For more ideas see A MOTHER'S MANUAL FOR SUMMER SURVIVAL , by Kathy Peel and Joy Mahaffey, published by Focus on the Family.
I'm sure you have some good ideas of your own that you have used with your family. E-mail me and I will try to share them throughout the summer on this website.