Just needed to vocalize to get it out to avoid passing the feelings on to the fam.
Starting a road trip with two young ones. Kind of stressed about it - we're doing 30+hrs total car-time over the next couple of weeks.
Have lots of contingencies for the car ride, planned lots of stops, have lots of snacks and some new distractions for the kids.
Trying to tell myself over and over it's not about getting there, it's about making a day out of the drives. It's a very different approach to how I've always traveled - usually my wife and I would just power thru and get there. With a potty trainer and a new walker I'm still coming to terms with expecting to stop every 30m. Idk that my heads totally there yet and wanted to share, even if just to put my thoughts on "paper".
How have other dad's out there had success with young ones on long trips? Any tips or ideas are welcome :)
My daughter is a spectacular traveler, so I'm very blessed. When she was 15 months we took her on an 1800 mile trip over a long 4-day weekend. I think she cried for a grand total of two hours that entire trip.
Just make sure to stop frequently to give them a break. In the age of electronics it's possible to give them videos to watch, but I kinda hate this because you miss so much of the world in which we live.
Another option is pod casts for small people. My daughter loved Bedtime stories for rebel girls.
Play the license plate games. Start at zero and the goal is to count upwards. So spot a plate with a 0 then a plate with a 1, and so on
You can do three same with letters of the alphabet.
Collect license plates from as many states as possible.
These all keep the focus outward instead of on screens.
Hope some of those help.