Having a Happy Road Trip with Your Kids

It is getting to be summer. For my family growing up summer meant taking a road trip somewhere fun.  Though it may sound like a nightmare, there are many advantages to taking road trips especially when you have children.  You can save money if you plan the trip correctly, you also get to avoid sitting for 5 hours on a plane with a screaming child.  There is also something very American about driving across the country and stopping at the "Mummy Alien" or whatever else you find along the way. 

I am a huge believer in no personal electronics on a road trip.  The point of sitting in a car together is to connect and bond.  It may be easier on you if you let your kids have their own little world, but when your children are grown you're going to wish you had spent more time connecting and talking instead of taking the easy route of electronics.  Besides our parents didn't let us use things like that or watch movies in cars and we all turned out perfectly fine. 

Planning

Plan your trip wisely.  Do not try to rush to your destination, enjoy the journey.  Remember that at every gas stop, your entire family is going to need to get out and potty and stretch.  If you have a young one that is in the middle of potty training, bring his or her potty and some wipes with you.  That way if you have to make an emergency stop in the middle of nowhere, they at least have a potty to sit on while they go to the bathroom.  Plan for stops at the world's largest whatever and anything else cool you see on the way.  I would also suggest planning on stopping at your motel or hotel for the night by 6 or 7 pm.  Then you have time to let your kids run around, play in the pool and explore your stop for the night.  You should also plan one long stop during the day so you can find a park and the kids can run around and play for an hour or so.  Letting children get their wiggles out at a park or a road side stop, means less wiggles during the car ride. 

Activities

Have lots of activities for your children to do in the car.  You can get some audio books from your local library that your whole family will enjoy.  You can also burn a few cds, if you can't stand listening to wheels on the bus one more time you might want to consider burning some pg songs that you like to listen to on the cds.  Play games like finding the alphabet first or I spy.  Have quiet activities they can do as well like books, coloring books, etch-a-sketch, dolls, action figures, ect.  Buy a couple surprises and have them stashed away for when times get super rough and they need a new activity.  Bring a map and let your kids follow the route on the map.  If they are young you can plot out the map for them and show them where they are and where they are going, if they are older have them plot out where they are.  A road trip is a good way to to learn how to use and read a map.

Food

This may be the most important part of the trip.  Have some cut raw veggies available, home made granola bars, sandwiches, tube yogurt, goldfishies, water, and whatever else your family eats.  If you are planning on saving money, you might consider having picnics for breakfast and lunches.  You can pack the picnics at the motel the night before, buying fresh food at a local store or bringing a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter on the trip.  Then you can all look forward to having dinner somewhere special.  My family had a rule that you can't eat somewhere you can eat at home.  This meant no nation wide chains and we got to experience local favorites.  Whatever you do, don't limit yourselves to burgers and fries.  I'm sure I'm not alone when I say eating fast food makes grumpy.  Whatever you do avoid feeding your children lots of sugary foods.  There is nothing worse than making them super hyper and then locking them in a car for hours on end.  Having lots of yummy, healthy snacks is a way to make the trip much easier on yourself and kids. 

Enjoy your trip.  The road trip is about spending time together and seeing something you might not otherwise see.  Don't get frustrated or stressed before the trip, the driving is the fun part of the experience.  Hopefully it is something you will love doing with your kids and make it a regular part of vacations. 
 

Fake a Clean House for Last Minute Guests

Surprise!  You invited friends from a play date at the park over for dinner tonight, or your significant other called and is bringing home dinner guests.  You look around and realize your house looks like a scene from Hoarders (well maybe not that bad).  How are you going to possibly clean the house and make a meal in a matter of a few hours? 

Take a deep breath and relax.  See my post from earlier this month on roasts or consider something in the slow cooker so you have more time to clean, but don't worry.  I'll give you a few points on faking a clean house in less than an hour.

Before you start anything considering serving your guests outside.  If you have a nice, clean, patio and the weather is nice consider having a bbq.  Guests won't mind helping wipe down a table and chairs for dinner and the less time they are in the house, the less time they have to notice dirt. 

Before you start cleaning crack a few windows.  Fresh air will make your house smell less stale and get rid of whatever odors your house normally smells like.  The fresh air will also help take away the vinegar smell or whatever products you use to clean your house. 

Clean up the clutter first.  Make sure you remove the clutter from surfaces like counters, tables maybe even the floor depending on your house.  We keep a mail tub with all of the random papers we collect and when guests come over we just move it to the desk in the office.  Honestly, you just have to move the clutter to a bedroom or office, a room the guests won't be seeing.  You can easily close the door to a messy room.  Clutter makes the house look smaller than it is, it also makes the house look messier than it actually is.  Cleaning off the clutter is the fastest way to make a house look cleaner. 

After the clutter is put away clean off the surfaces of everything.  I run a quick duster over bookshelves and the tv.  I also use vinegar and a rag and clean off the table and counter tops.  The counters may get dirty again from dinner, but that's explainable and crusty dinner from last night is not.  While I'm doing this I also take a quick check of the walls and knock down any new cobwebs and scrub any big marks on the walls. 

Peek into your guest bathroom.  Make sure there is tp, soap and a clean hand towel.  Sweep the floor or wipe down the toilet or sink if they look dirty.  You can basically clean an entire bathroom in less than 15 minutes so it shouldn't take very much time at all to check and clean anything that needs to be fixed.

Lastly, I clean the floors.  I usually vacuum them and if I have extra time I'll steam mop or use a little mop and glow to make them extra clean.  I might also vacuum off my couches if they are full of dog hair and I have extra time. 

Your house is ready!  At least it looks clean even if the bedrooms are a disaster area.  Remember you are the harshest critic of your own house.  Guests just want to spend time with you, they don't care about your house.  As long as you make them feel welcome, have fun and maybe go the extra mile to serve something yummy, your guests will have a wonderful time.

Low Maintenance Gardening

Everyone wants a beautiful garden, but let's face it, not everyone wants to spend all day everyday out there pulling weeds and planting new plants.  There are several shortcuts you can take that will eliminate work in the future.  Following these rules will save you time this summer so you can enjoy playing outside instead of planting on your knees.

Here are some natural ways to keep the pests away and help you get the most out of your time.  This way the little amount of time you spend on your yard will get the most results. 

Put down mulch! A thick layer of mulch will keep weeds from coming up in your plant beds.  By thick I mean several inches, not just a thin coating. 

Plant your plants according to what their tags say.  Do not put a plant that needs shade in direct sun and vice-versa.  Watch the sun in your yard and figure out what places are shaded and what places get a lot of sun.  In summertime the afternoon sun is going to be more intense than the morning sun, so keep that in mind as well when planting. 

If you really hate spring planting try planting perennials instead of annuals.  These plants will come back every year instead of dying after one season. You can also try bushes and bulb planting to keep from having to re-plant every year.  Flowering bushes look as nice as flowers and they don't need to be replanted every year. 

Release ladybugs in your yard will help keep the bugs from eating your plants.  You can also put down slug traps made of beer to keep the slugs off your plants if you live in the northwest. 

Water your plants.  Do not water during the daytime, this just wastes the water because the majority of it will be evaporated.  Watering an hour before sunrise instead of the evening will also help cut down on the slug problem.

Put down compost for your plants.  I make my own compost with an electronic composter so my food scraps become food for my future plants.  If you don't want to make your own compost you can purchase some at any hardware store.  The compost provides minerals and food for your plants.   This will give your plants the boost they need to grow larger and have more blooms. 

If you follow these tips you will get the most out of your yard in the least amount of time this summer.  It's never too early to start planning for spring.  You can start planting after the last frost of the year.  If you are worried it will still frost pick a hearty spring plant that can handle a light frost without being killed.