Traveling with my nine year old and my thirty one year old kids(my Disney trip with the family and Poneyby)
May 04 '00 (Updated Jun 20 '00)
I was not sure where to post this, but I find that this is the most appropriate category. There are several of you out there that will NR this epinion but I don't mind--I just took a vacation so I'm in a good mood. It was under the 'Car Traveling With Kids' section but somehow it ended up here. I don't know how it was moved.
This section asks the following:
What are the smartest things to bring on trips with the kids? For what ages do certain things work best? What works best in different kinds of transportation?
I traveled with two children to Disneyland; My nine year old daughter and my friend and Epinions member Poneyby.
What are the smartest things to bring on trips with the kids? For my daughter, it was her homework. We decided to take our vacation the week after Easter vacation as we figured there would be less traffic and crowds. I made sure to get my daughter’s homework and class work for the entire week. Since we had a long drive ahead of us (Fresno, Ca. to Anaheim, Ca.) there would be plenty of time for her to do her homework. I also made sure she brought plenty of books to read, paper and pens and had I thought about it earlier, I would have had her bring her ever popular Mad Libs. That took care of one kid.
Poneyby didn’t require as much attention as he was totally jet lagged from his flight and slept most of the way down. I had packed an ice chest full of munchies so I made sure that he would be fed on the off chance he woke up hungry. That entire time during our week long vacation, the ride down had to have been the quietest.
For what ages do certain things work best? That’s easy. When you have a nine year old kid (who for the first time in her life will actually remember Disneyland and is therefore so wired she can’t even blink) and a thirty one year old kid (who makes it his sole purpose in life to antagonize a very hormonal pregnant friend), I have learned to separate the two children (inside the vehicle and out in public). If you do not do this, then you will be subjected to ‘I can scream louder than you’ contests on Space Mountain, name calling, look at how much ‘see-food’ is in my mouth and the ‘let’s see what happens if we push every button and pull every lever in the rental van’ syndrome.
What works best in different kinds of transportation? We rented a van. It was the most logical choice. We put of our luggage and the ice chest ‘o goodies in the very back; as for as seating arrangement go, there were three adults and the two kids. The van had two backseats. The seat farthest back was reserved for sleeping passengers and where I sent the kids if they started acting up. I sat in the backseat closest to the front of the van by myself almost the whole time. :(
Seriously though, if you travel with kids for a long period of time it’s inevitable that they will get bored, cranky and restless. After doing homework, reading, drawing, listening to Weird Al Yankovich CD’s, playing car games etc., what else is there to do? Try talking.
After Poneyby went back to sleep for the hundredth time on the way to Disneyland, my daughter and I talked about everything. We talked about who she liked, disliked, her true feelings about her best friend, the teacher, how she is jump rope impaired—you name it. We talked. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter and I talk every night for a few minutes at bed time, at dinner and such, but I guess it took a long 4-5 hour drive to really realize that I needed to get to know my daughter a little bit better.
As for the other kid…? I know him ALL TO WELL. I hope you had a good time Poneyby! Same time next year?
To see the picture of us coming out of Splash Mountain, type in the follwing url:
http://i5.yimg.com/5/3aae323/h/865eb699/SplashMountain+copy.jpg
[In order of appearance: Poneyby is in the backseat, my husband Phillip in front of him, me, my older sister Lisa, and my daughter taking point (notice the look on her face? She’s trying to be a big girl and not scream. I think she looks constipated)]
Poneyby and I will be reviewing Disneyland together, and I hope the reviews will be as good as Hephep1 and her reviews of Disneyworld. And to those of you who have written me and asked for wild and crazy stories about my week with Poney...I'll get to that. Somehow I will incorporate them into my reviews of Disneyland.
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Epinions.com ID:
MHawkins
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Member: 'Midge'
Reviews written: 86
Trusted by: 232 members
About Me:
Poneyboy is NOT MY husband, boyfriend, or brother! We are NOT related!
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