Happy Kids, Inc: Family Road Trip: What I Learned About My Kids

By Meg Hodson

My kids are great travelers. We have done numerous trips with them on long plane rides to Ohio and short jaunts (3 hours or less) to nearby getaways like the beach or the mountains. They're seasoned, in my opinion. I actually love traveling with them.

So, when we planned our recent road trip to California, I was excited. The kids were ecstatic. California beaches, the Santa Cruz boardwalk, San Francisco! It would be a 12 hour trip total, a first for them in the car. I was up for the challenge. I was pumped.

Many of you kept track of our adventures on our trip. I'm working on a post highlighting the must have stops and tips from our vacation. But today I would like to reflect on what I learned about my kids on this trip.

1. Kids Get Cranky and You Just Have To Go With The Flow. This isn't groundbreaking news. But it is definitely more evident and unavoidable while on a road trip. I noticed it especially as we began our trek home. We've had almost a week of activity coupled with late nights. The perfect recipe for crankiness is created. But when you are trapped in a car and not wanting to overuse your "get out of jail free cards" (food, vista points, and bathroom breaks), you just gotta go with the flow and work through it the best you can.

2. Kids Will Come Up With New Names For Tourist Sites.....and It's Adorable. According to my 5 year old, we saw the "Golden Great Bridge", "Mountain Shasta', and "Ghirandelli Square". I made no attempts to correct him.

3. A Larger Car Helps. We made the trip in our Subaru Outback. We love our Subaru, it did well on the trip, and we were able to fit everything we needed. But the 3 kids were slightly snug in the back seat. We were spoiled by our friends we met up with as we all fit comfortably in their Honda Pilot. For a moment, we oohed and aahed as we imagined driving this car home. Honda, if you're reading this, I would be happy to use a Pilot for our next road trip and blog about.

4. Be Ready For Kids' Reactions To New Experiences. My kids are 10, 8, and 5. They remain inquisitive little sponges. I love this. My 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son also are big inquirers. We had a lot of questions when we arrived in San Francisco. My daughter wondered about the graffiti (she had seen graffiti before, but not quite so much). This affected her so acutely that she began to cry a little. I was unprepared for this reaction. This was new and raw for her. Were we safe in this town? I assured her Mom and Dad would never intentionally put her into harm's way. My 8 year old wanted to give food to the homeless people on the street. I complimented him on his warm and open heart. This led to further conversation about big cities and their diverse people and problems. For ecxample, I spoke of being cautious with any liquid on the pavement. I don't think this comforted her!

5. Kids Love Pools and Beaches. Simple joy is found in water apparently for children. In the 4 hotels and homes we rented, we ensured there was at least a hot tub or pool. Some had both! Honestly, if we had done nothing else then hang out and have pool time and eat ice cream, they probably would have thought it was the best vacation ever. Ditto goes for the beach. Their fascination with the constant wave creation of the ocean never ceases to impress them....or me for that matter.

6. Laundry? Well, we did get to do a little wash, but had sporadic availability of washing machines. So yes, my kids did wear underwear twice and had snot on their shirts. I'm biting my lip just a little.

7. Keep A Journal. Whether that be photos, a blog post, or an actual written journal, take note of the highlights of your trip. I am always taking LOTS of pictures and I am going to make sure to create an album dedicated to this trip, complete with short passages.

As I write this, we are on the last night of our trip, relaxing in Mt. Shasta. We both are eager to get home yet don't want the vacation to end. The kids are enjoying the indoor heated pool as I sip a glass of red wine. It's the perfect end to a great road trip memory for our family.