What is this {pretty, happy, funny, real} you speak of?
~ {pretty, happy, funny, real} ~
Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Only two weeks until the movers come! I'm firmly in denial, which is an easier place to be when someone else is doing the packing for you. Soon I'm going to start thinking seriously about planning and packing up the car for our month on the road. (I have lots of ideas for the kids and the internet gave me more, but if you have any great tips, you should tell me! Pippo and Molly are pretty good travelers, but Nora is at a sort of awkward age — too old to just nap through it all and too young to be easily entertained)
While we avoid thinking about moving, we spend our days alternating between playing in the water outside (it's generally too hot to do much else) and making fun messes inside. The kids have been playing up a storm, and I've been sewing. Because obviously, when you're a few short weeks from moving halfway across the country, the rational thing to do is get started on some baby quilts, crib sheets, and toddler clothes. (Currently, this romper cut out and waiting to be sewn together.)
(Yes, they are sharing a chair. Personal space, smersonal space.)
We're in a serious origami zone right now.
Pippo found instructions in a magazine for making a paper cup, and he folded several dozen for himself and Molly to use for rinsing out their mouths after brushing their teeth. I ordered him this book, which comes with 24 sheets of origami paper and instructions for a bunch of easy projects. For $2 and not having to leave the house to find it, I'd say that's pretty good. We tried getting a few books out of the library, too, but the directions weren't nearly clear enough for him to follow, even though the projects weren't too hard.
Of course, we quickly worked through that paper and I ended up going all in with a pack of 500 sheets. Pippo was so excited that he declared the day they arrived a holiday. He's been diligently folding sheet after sheet, with no signs of tiring yet. (I went through a big origami phase when I was younger, so I totally get it. I still love joining in!) Molly has started making her own “omagamee things” too, and they keep them all in a box (now a box and a bag or two) under Pippo's bed.
I'm thinking we probably won't get through all 500 before the movers get here, but with this work ethic you never know.
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Jenny says
My older boy went through the folding paper stage, only he was not interested in origami but rather paper airplanes. We had bags and bags and boxes of them before he decided he could part with just a few. I love to see children working diligently at things like this.
I don’t know about you, but there is a calm before the storm when moving when things just seem peaceful and I tend to start manageable little projects. I think of it as a bit of restful time to get me through the actual move.
Good luck with the travel plans and best wishes with the toddler. It is an awkward age for car trips that is for sure! I look forward to reading any tips readers might have for that age since I never did it with my first.
Kim says
Rosie, Godspeed regarding your new adventure!
One of my favorites airplane-with-kids hacks (and also works well in a car if you use a clipboard instead of an airplane tray) is blue painting tape.
It can be ripped easily and reassembled in all sorts of ways!
Tina Miles says
Another simple car trip idea, pipe cleaners! Younger ones can just fiddle with them, olders can actually make things.
Here’s my pinterest board of ideas I gathered from when we drove from Indiana to AZ in 3 days with an 8, 6, 2 and 1 year old. https://www.pinterest.com/tinamiles/traveling-activities-ideas/
What I remember, for us–the I Spy bag was a bust. (Maybe try the easy way, in a bottle so you don’t feel like you wasted so much time/money on it and then they didn’t appreciate it.) Some of the ideas are super involved and I just rolled my eyes at that, simple seemed to work best.
The Toddler cup/straws idea was SO, SO simple and the BEST idea ever. Its super simple, but really needs the picture, so just go to the link. I was amazed how happy that kept little ones during the trip (with lots of reaching back to pick up straws) and at various restaurants/spots of waiting.
And really, since we were doing Lots of driving in a short time, we did let normal screen time rules slide. We were caravaning with my parents who wanted to get there ASAP, so we couldn’t stop as much as I would have liked (but they were huge help when we did stop), but I’d plan on stopping every 2 hours to let kids run & play. Good luck!!
Tina Miles says
Oh, one more idea! This was from this year’s family road trip. My older two (now 12 & 10) BEGGED me to buy an Extreme Dot-to-Dot book (Here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Dot-Pets-Game/dp/B00NMQ44WE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467292041&sr=8-1&keywords=extreme+dot+to+dot ) The LOVED it, and my younger two (now 6 & 5) surprised me how well they did with it as well. So that might be a fun thing for your oldest.
And, do waste time doing lots of games to play at rest stops. Just being able to run and play with Mom and Dad was enough…I don’t know if the kids really played with the game ideas I’d packed, maybe the Frisbee. But, as I said in the earlier comment, that’s when I learned simpler was better. 🙂
Julie says
We just spent a month on the road and are finally moving this weekend. We stayed with family and simply did whatever they were doing-cleaning the yard, playing with Grandpa and Grandma’s neighbors. For when my kids were younger sometimes eating was a car activity, along with wiping everything down with a wipe. My kids lived to wipe things down with a wipe, and really a wipe-smudged window is a small price to pay for some moments of peace. Happy travels.
Jill Foley says
I just love all these photos – the folding paper / origami part made me smile…so sweet the phases they go through.
Lisa G. says
A full month on the road! Oh, my. I have no advice to give you, never having done that myself. I hope it goes well. I daresay it will a source of good memories for the future.
Elizabeth says
that is so cute! well, I totally get doing projects and such right before a move; it’s stressful and these are pretty good coping mechanisms in my book! so glad you don’t have to do the packing! God bless you all!!! that’s so cute about declaring it a holiday! 🙂
Habou says
The origami thing is hilarious. Especially the stash under the bed.
Annalisa says
Nora’s got the right idea. Why mess around with those little plastic squirt guns?
When road tripping in the summer, we’ve found that a toddler likes holding a frozen plastic bottle of water in her lap, especially if she’s getting a little cranky – which is only making her hotter and then crankier.
Wendy says
I have used lollipops and sonic slushes to get a little quiet when necessary. If held back it’s a good last resort. When mine were little – Nora’s age – they liked taking things out of containers. So I would prepare little containers with easy to pick up things they could take out. Altoid tins, klenex boxes, even little zipper pouches, they just liked to explore what was in the container. Also a compact mirror usually was a good bet. I also always took along the magnadoodle, even though it took a lot of space my kids made it worth it, and several ages could share. Sorry to see you leaving here – always enjoyed seeing pictures of places we go. May it be cooler where you end up.
Liz L says
We used to wrap things up on long car trips. We had to empty the foot well at rest stops, but even the youngest loved unwrapping a suprise! I spent little to nothing – a comic, or a ‘new’ book from the thrift store, or executive stress toys Dh had picked up at conferences. (The soft squeeze sort). Then little packs of crackers or cartons of juice. Some stickers or band aids. I’d keep the bag of parcels at my feet and coukd pass one back if it was getting fractious.
We listened to story cds and we sang and sang. Lots of silly old songs. Lily the pink, the railroad runs thru the middle of the house etc.
Oh and where we possibly could we would get them ready for bed and drive in the evening. Lifting them into bed on arrival.
Melissa D says
With toddlers we always tried to stop for at least a full hour each time we took a break, to really get some running around going with the kids while the driver snoozed. In an hour or slightly more, you can go to a small Children’s Museum with lots of sensory stuff, or stop off at a great splash pad<<<utter gold.
These days when in need I just look at Google Maps to find the nearest decent ice cream shop!
You may want to pack a potty in the car with everything you need, just in case. Once I had to haul a kid into a very rural tractor repair shop to use the bathroom. A hound dog was on the floor, just hangin' out. As they do.
As far as toys go, a travel game that lets kids tick off various things (mail truck, VW, fire truck, etc) as they pass along is fantastic. Last year we had kids count the deer –and they could only count the deer on THEIR side of the car. This backfired, as of course allllllll the deer hung out on the north but not the south side of the highway.
Oh, and if you're driving in the south, the best restaurants are the meat-and-threes near the courthouse in just about every town. 🙂
Woman of the House says
Origami, water play, and toy trains sounds like a great way to spend the summer. I’m so glad you have movers to do the heavy lifting (so to speak, lol) of moving. I hope it all goes smoothly!