Here is what I know about road trips:
· There will be multiple, “Where are we?” questions.
· Bathroom humor jokes from your 44- year-old husband will never get old, to him anyway.
· 1000 movies will be watched.
· 4 gallons of trash and food will be in tiny crevices of your once- clean- car
· There will be bribes of toys, candy, and even cash prizes to get your kids to take a nap.
· No books that you are excited to read will be read because little people in the back need, napkins, wipes, movies changed, toys picked up, fights broken up, and gum out of their hair.
· AND LOTS of STOPS, which can include gas stations with a wide variety of unhealthy options. As much as a rootbeer slushie and cinnamon churro, underneath a dusty heating lamp looks tempting,I probably need to plan a little better if we don’t want to add stomachs and pukes to our list.
We aren’t the best planners. Most of time I do a decent job to make sure our kids have enough clothes and shoes on a long trip. If it is longer than 4 days I just start throwing clothes in the bag, no longer counting the outfits of the day, hoping I guessed right. The last thing to be planned, or most of the time ignored, is our food.
This summer we headed on a road trip to Nashville, DC, Virginia and then back home to Saint Louis, in 7 days. Which means we will be on the road A LOT. This time we prepared a little better. WHY?
1. Because we needed to save some cash.
2. Grant’s allergies make it hard for him to eat the smorgasbord at your local gas station.
3. My online challenge group keeps me accountable to stay healthy even when it isn’t convenient.
Some tips for eating healthy on the ROAD:
1. Go to the grocery store the day before and stock up. Make this part of your packing agenda. Pack food items ahead of time. Some of my favorites include:
· Snow peas
· Carrots
· Yogurts in tubes
· Nuts
· Protein bars
· Sweets and beats chips
· Gluten-free bread and lunch meat, because there ain’t no MOBILE gas station that has gluten -free anything.
· Popcorn
· Fruit snacks (because I need something to bribe kids with.)
EVERYTIME you stop for gas or bathroom breaks. This saves future meltdowns.
3. Pack utensils and napkin or wipes. We ALWAYS forget this. (hence the dirty car)
4. Buy a pack of bottled waters and keep in the back.
5. Enjoy your trip, sing loud, laugh lots and grab some mad libs.
It won’t be perfect. Perfect is boring, but it will be better than last time. Will we stop at McDonalds? Yes, because it’s my kids birthday week and that’s all he wants. His trainer-mom has tried to pretend it doesn’t exist,so ofcourse he would ask for this. Will my kids eat processed chicken nuggets and fries? YUP! Will they die? NOPE. Will I steal some of their fries, because seriously who has better fries than McDonalds? YUP! Will I Die? Nope. Will we eat there everyday? Nope.
One of my favorite quotes: “Do the best you can and leave the rest.”
Prepare and Plan for success, be flexible, and don’t forget headphones for the kids.
Happy Driving,
K and fam