I Spy A Peaceful Car Ride

Park has never been a huge fan of the car. Something about being strapped down and forced to stay in the same place for long periods of time just doesn't appeal to him.

I can't imagine why.

And as unappealing as the car is to Park, hearing hollering and whining for long periods of time while trapped inside a moving vehicle with the culprit of such behavior is equally as unappealing to his mommy.

I can't imagine why.

Although Park has become 100 times more pleasant to travel with as he gets older, I still like to keep some secret tricks up my sleeve for emergency situations (AKA when he reverts back to his former car-loathing self.)

After art class at Grandma's house one day, Park came home with a token item that has saved me some major sanity when he is stir crazy while traveling. The token item is now a permanent fixture in my console, just waiting to be whipped out while stuck in traffic.

Grandma, being the brilliant woman she is, made a little flip book of clip art pictures attached to a string. He wears it like a necklace and uses it to play "I Spy". He gets so involved in searching for all the items in his book that he forgets to be miserable. And I, in turn, forget to spend all my time passing back snacks and toys and remember to concentrate on the road.

And for those of you who have never had the privilege of riding with me, it will suffice to say it behooves all other drivers for me to FOCUS when behind the wheel.

In his "I Spy" booklet there are common things you might see while on the road such as flags, birds, trains, airplanes, trees, trucks, tractors, and so on. You can get as creative as you want and for older children, you can even have them make their own books by drawing the pictures or cutting them out of magazines instead of using clip art. Or for those of you as crafty as I am, you can pass this task off to an unsuspecting Grandma and just pray for the best.

"I Spy" a mom who hopes this trick saves you some sanity, too.

P.S. If the above suggestion doesn't help, please feel free to use my emergency plan B, which I reserve the right to fall back on at any time. Plan B is as follows: Pop a movie into the car DVD player and don't beat yourself up over it. And if you don't own a portable DVD player, may I suggest you put it on your Christmas list this year.

Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.