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Mummy, are we there yet?

By RomanticHeart | January 3, 2009

With over 200 hundred miles yet to travel, this question from the little darlings in the back can irritate the nerves unless you take some remedial action.
Before we hit the highway, the younger ones were already fidgeting. The vacation home was still many miles away but the kids couldn’t understand what was taking so long This certainly annoys the older kids and, tension within the confines of the car can start to rise.
So, what can be done to calm the nerves of the tormented driver who has quite enough to do maintaining her concentration on the busy highways?

Finding a way to keep the kids occupied is a must.
The ‘I Spy’ game is good for maybe half an hour although I remember one episode that lasted a lot longer thanks to a not so clever mix-up by my six year old.

On one occasion my star performer spied the steering wheel and her clue was ws and of course we all thought this meant windscreen. However after many frustrating miles the answer was not forthcoming And what do you know, her nibs got her steering wheel and her windscreen muddled up! She was not too popular for a while after that.
What happens when everyone gets tired of this game? One option is to play Charades, and this can be good fun for a while too.
What then should we do to keep three restless kids occupied as we drive that long and boring journey to the seaside?

This summer, we found the answer in an audiobook article. We had to dig a bit into our hard earned cash but it was worth it. Four MP3 players later and we now had the right tools to silence the little lambs!
The great thing about audiobooks is that you can load several of them onto each MP3 player so that there is enough material there for both journeys, there and back. Peace for hours for a small price.

We had toyed with the idea of burning some audiobooks onto CD’s and letting everyone hear the same story, but, this was bound to spark another row. “I don’t like Shakespeare, I don’t like Superman, I don’t like Roald Dahl etc..etc…’
I would advise you to allow the children some choice here too, so that they do not feel forced to listen to something they might not be too interested in.
Take a look at the recommended reading titles from your local high school or college, and you will find that many of the educational titles are readily available in audiobook format.
When they get a little older, the daily trips on the school bus could easily be put to good use by listening to some of the classic literature titles or language audiobooks from the curriculum.

Anyway, here are some of the audio books we selected: The Book of Pirates, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Chaos King, Groosam Grange, Coraline, and Alice in Wonderland. And, there are plenty of titles for the adults as well.