I’m betting that, if you’re the mother of small or school-aged children, you have a love-hate relationship with your car when it comes to your kids. On the plus side, colicky babies will often fall asleep when they’re on the road. And, of course, your car is very helpful for doing all of the things you need to do as a parent, like grocery shopping, attending school and sports events, and going on vacations.
On the other hand, if you have more than one child, the car is the place where some of their most intense fighting takes place! Does the scene in the video below from Kia and Daphne of CoolMom look like what happens in the back seat of your car?
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Kia Motors
My husband and I were recently getting very frustrated with our boys. We have to take the freeway several times a week to go to their baseball games and practices, and it was not a pleasant experience. I’m already a Nervous Nellie when it comes to being on the freeway, so I was even more stressed-out when the children were fighting in the back seat and distracting my husband, the driver. I knew he couldn’t pay attention to the road as well as he should with all the yelling, pinching, etc., going on behind him. My twins are nine years old, so there was no way they were going to fall asleep like the kids of CoolMom in the video above.
But it suddenly hit me that my boys were acting out because they were bored! We keep our car fairly neat and uncluttered, but maybe we were being a little too stingy when it came to keeping our car pristine. Since that “aha moment,” I always make sure my boys have something to do in the car on the way to baseball, whether it’s playing a video game, reading a book, watching a movie on a portable DVD player, doing some homework or drawing a picture. So far, this strategy has been a success! The boys really look forward to having something fun to do in the car, and the fighting and goofing off has made a sharp nosedive. I have a feeling, though, that some of the activities I’ve planned will lose their appeal for the boys after the while, so I need your help! What are some unique ways that you entertain your kids in the car? How do you discourage them from fighting and horsing around? Do you have any strategies for making car trips more pleasant for everyone? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!
Disclaimer: As a member of the Kia Social Club, I am eligible to be entered into contests and receive prizes in return for my active participation in this program.
