Posted by Sue Landsman on Jul.24, 2010

ⓒ iStockPhoto - blueclue

It’s every parent’s nightmare: a ten-hour long plane ride with young children, or a glorious plane/train/automobile combo that’s guaranteed to leave everyone exhausted. No, it’s probably not going to be your best or easiest day, but here are five ways you can make your trip less troublesome than you’d expect:

Lower your Expectations

As a parent, you’re used to trying to get your kids to behave their best, whine less, and not pick their noses in public. When you’re traveling a distance though, you need to remind yourself that everyone’s out of their element, likely tired, and not at their best. Especially you, since you’ve probably been packing and planning for days and agonizing over making sure you’ve remembered everything you need.

Make it easy on yourself and just remember that as long as your plane doesn’t crash, you’re golden. It doesn’t matter if the kids are overtired or have too much soda on the plane. Eventually, you’ll get home and the wine will be free.

Prepare the Entertainment

You’ll need a lot of books, games, and materials to entertain the kids on a long trip. If you’re as anal-retentive as me, you’ll be picking them out months before your trip and squirreling them away in a special place where there’s absolutely no chance your kids will find and tamper with them. However, there’s a fault with this strategy. Once you’ve got that undoubtedly heavy carry-on wedged in front of the seat in front of you on the plane, you’re not going to be passing it around. Nobody but you knows what’s in it. For all the kids know, you’ve packed twenty boxes of tissues and all they’ve got is the in-flight magazine to read for ten hours.

You’re much better off building up the enthusiasm for the “off-limits” materials by showing them to your kids before the trip. Then not only will they be dying to dig into the stuff, but they’ll know exactly what to ask for when you’re on the plane and won’t just say “I’m bored.”

Agree on the Ground Rules Ahead of Time

If you are a mother and a control-freak (possibly redundant), you do not want to find yourself yelling across a whole row of seats “YOU ALREADY HAD SODA!” If you cannot go with item one (lower your expectations) and resign yourself to just letting your kids have whatever they want on the trip or rest stops, then discuss with them ahead of time what they’re allowed to have so you don’t jump up and almost brain yourself on the overhead bin.

Separate Seats are Just Fine

Sometimes on an airplane you can’t get seats all in a group; either you’re split into two groups, or there’s one seat alone. If you haven’t already sold your soul to get dibs on the seat by yourself, consider putting the older sibling there, or just dealing with the half-and-half split. Often, the separation makes things go much smoother. If you have an adolescent or pre-pubescent, this will give them the novel satisfaction of pretending they don’t know you, which equates with at least an hour of subsequent good mood. This also gives you the opportunity of sitting nowhere near the child who will do annoying things like click his seatbelt or slowly and extendedly chew on ice.

You’re Only as Strong as the Weakest Bladder

Undoubtedly one of your children will need to use the bathroom twice as much as everyone else combined. Make sure you know who this child is and seat him accordingly, and have a strict “When I say to use the bathroom I really mean it” policy. Do not wait until you’re about to land to suggest this. Avoid the double-beverage-cart bladder-buster trap. No one is ever too old to be reminded to pee.

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Posted under Family, GDM Kids, Tweens, Teens.