I don’t know about you but traveling with toddlers is a pain in my rear.
Come on, being real here.
It’s not my favorite thing to do but it’s also not something that can be avoided forever. Eventually you will want to take a vacation with your lovely little family. Up until about a year ago, I dreaded traveling with two kids, who are only 18 months apart. It was my worst nightmare. But, one day we did it. We traveled a 3 hour trip to visit my Dad in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
And, guess what?
We survived. ::kinda::
We did everything possible to travel when it was most convenient for us, during a time when the kids would maybe fall asleep and cause minimal havoc on our trip. I made sure to pack plenty of snacks, coloring books, toys, and we took as many stops as needed. The kids are now a little older and traveling late at night is not always the best so now we dare to travel at any time of the day and have pretty much mastered that part. {totally different post coming up this week; our top 10 travel musts for busy toddlers.}
We always figure that the travel portion is half the battle, but no. Not with my kids, there is no half battle! They have a full on all the time battle. This past weekend we visited San Antonio. Don't get me wrong my kids are good kids, they love to explore and once we get going it's not too bad. We do have our moments. The tantrums are real, the stress builds and this Momma usually needs a Margarita..or dos.
How do we manage?
Today, I will share my top 3 ways to deal with fussy toddlers so that we can enjoy our travels and make the most out of every situation.
1) We select kid friendly activities as well as kid friendly places & restaurants to visit. While in San Antonio we walked the River Walk of course and my son took it upon himself to create a moment of "trail exploring". We handed him and Camila a map and they led the way until Santiago thought we should cross the River at a spot where there was no bridge or boat! We didn't have swim gear so yeah, not gonna happen. It was pretty hilarious though. We also opted for eating at Fuddruckers and Poblanos at the San Fernando Cathedral. Both were the best kid/family friendly, inexpensive choices with open fun surroundings.
2) We ignore then address tantrum related situations. At times the best thing to do is just ignore the situation and it will diffuse itself, this method only works if we then follow it up with a reassurance that we care about what is really wrong with them. We know our kids really well; sometimes they have just had enough and are ready to eat, change activities or have some down time. As parents we get carried away and want our kids to experience everything... not always possible for a tired and irritable 3 1/2 or 5 year old. Of course sometimes your kids are just being spoiled and want to rant and cry in which case I usually panic. Haha. No but really. In these cases my Husband then becomes the Ying to my Yang and helps me diffuse the situation. #teamgomez
3) We relax, enjoy and take a lot of fun pictures. It's the best way to divert any bad situation, sometimes we just need to relax and not be so worried about those around us. I used to become overly paranoid about what everyone else would think about my kids running about freely and exploring in public. These days, not so much. I have learned to relax and simply enjoy our site-seeing or trips, it creates some pretty amazing memories. I am also all about taking a ton of pictures to help us have great visuals of where we have been.
What are some of your tips for traveling with toddlers?
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