Thursday, July 19, 2007

Travel Tips for Toddlers?

I'm getting anxious about making a 16-hour drive with two cars, two toddlers, one baby, and one cat. These are my emerging approaches to travel:

Baby. Drive until he cries. Nurse him. Resume driving.

Cat. Buy cage big enough for litterbox and food. Don't let cat out until Pennsylvania appears.

Toddlers. I am assembling three bins of toys and books that can be rotated daily. I also have some kids' music CDs. What else is there? We won't have an adult free to deal with them, b/c we'll both be driving, so they'll just have to work it out by themselves, right? Any great toys or activity ideas?

My philosophy of DVD players in the car. I don't believe in them, even though I've never seen or experienced one. I also have failed to teach Oliver and Wesley how to watch TV , though I suspect they will learn in about 5 minutes one day soon.

My philosophy of cell phones. I don't want one. Well, I caved on that yesterday, and now own a cell phone. We need to communicate car-to-car, and it is helping reduce my anxiety about going back to work - James can reach me quickly if Max is crying too much while I'm at work. (And then what will I do? Just start crying myself, I suppose, and wish I were home.) I should have proposed a new course "Breastfeeding 101" for fall 07, and made students pay a lab fee to sit around talking while I nurse Max.

Toddler travel tips are welcome. So is course approval, if you happen to be an academic administrator at my new college.