 |
| Never got to do this when I traveled without my son... It's better than business lounge access. |
Do you ever reminisce about the
days when you traveled without children?
And you wish you could slap your former childless self who used to
complain about not being able to sleep on airplanes, because it is too
uncomfortable, or how having a 2-hour layover was just the worst, because it
was so boring.
When people without kids tell
me their traveling woes, I never respond with the “Just wait until you have
kids” line. No, I would never be
so annoying. Instead, I manically laugh and tell them just to, borrowing words from the famous book, go the f**k to sleep when they’re on a plane,
because they freaking can. <-- This works best to abruptly leave the room to
really drive home your point.
With that said, I have a great
traveler in my son. We traveled a
lot from the time he was a wee babe, whether on train rides around Japan or
long flights to see family, so The Boy travels well. But, to be fair, my husband and I (I included my husband
just to be nice… It was all ME) have done our research, and we know what works
to make travel easy, which really means we know what tools to have with us to
keep The Boy distracted.
Old folks will tell you about
the days when they traveled with kids and didn’t have this newfangled
technology called the iPad. Translation: that
would have made that sh**storm of a trip to your grandma’s a hell of a lot
better. Jealousy. Pure jealousy and not-so-fond memories of breaking up fights, because the boys are threatening to throw out My First Sony (no way, that thing had no earphone plug... just a microphone!) if it plays one more Little Mermaid song. True Story.
Here’s the trick though, folks…
The apps, books and movies can’t be an every day thing. The Boy uses the iPad maybe twice a
week, and he can play with his games for about 20 minutes. I save these suckers for travel, so
they’re “new” and cool.
Apps
( My son, so you know how these apps might work for your own little one, will turn 3 at the end of January, and he can play the following apps all by himself with minimal help. )
.JPG)
Tony the Truck- Free, but you
have to pay $2.99 to unlock all of the trucks, which is totally worth it. Kids can play with an excavator, crane
truck, forklift, steamroller, bulldozer, cement mixer and dump truck. All of the trucks make noise, and kids
can even change the weather and make apples fall off the trees.
Little Builders- $2.99, and it
has some really awful reviews. I
don’t really know what all people want from these apps, and we have no issues with
it crashing. You can dig, paint a house, build a brick wall, put up a room and
wash a street. The Boy especially
loves all of the funny accidents that you can make happen to the people.
Nighty Night- $2.99, and you
can pay slightly more to get all of the animals available. I love the narration on this, and The
Boy loves all of the sounds and motions the animals make as he turns off the
lights for nighttime. I am
especially fond of the update for Christmas, which includes a singing
snowman.
Toca Boca Kitchen- $2.99, and
includes two monsters. Select
different food and different methods of cooking it, and see if the monster will
like what you cook up. The Boy
loves the sounds they make when they eat, as well as the different cooking
methods. Currently, we are stuck
on hot dogs, pureeing them in the food processor and over salting them to make
the monsters not like it. He
laughs every time.
Movies & Kindle Books
Orangutangled- Animals!
Rhyming! A tiger! What isn’t to like here?
Curious George- Always a
win. Don’t overthink the Man With
the Yellow Hat’s parenting skills.
They do not exist, and he really should not have a monkey… Or kids.
Froggy Goes to Bed- My neighbor
turned us on to these books, and they’re great. The Boy loves the line “turning more red in the face than
green” that shows up in each one.
Planes- Talking planes, a race
and nothing scary.
Paw Patrol- Dogs driving cars,
rescuing people. Of course
children like it.
Keep Your iPad Safe.
The i-Blason ArmorBox KidoSeries case has never failed me.
You can prop it up to watch movie, put it on your kid’s lap for him to
play games and carry it by the handle.
Ever since I put this case on last May, I haven’t taken it off, because
it is so handy even for me, and I use the iPad on the treadmill, in the kitchen
and while sitting on the couch. It’s
a win!
Shh! Quiet!
You can’t play all of the apps
and movie on high volume so other people get annoyed. We use the Kidz Gear Volume-Limiting Headphones, and The Boy
has never had a problem wearing them or keeping them on his head.
Beep, Beep! Quickly Navigate the Airport!
Since we have to pay for a seat
for The Boy on airplanes now, we insist on using his carseat. It’s safer for him should we encounter
turbulence, and he falls asleep in it without any problems. Plus, it allows him to use the tray
tables at a comfortable height.
But, lugging carseats around the airport is a pain. Enter the GoGo Babyz KidzTravelmate. It’s expensive, yes,
but you will be sold when you first use it. You can use it like a stroller once you’re in the
airport: Once the carseat is
hooked into the travelmate, buckle your child in, and you’re off pushing him
like a rolly suitcase! It also
fits down the aisle in the plane, so you don’t have to carry the heavy carseat
while also trying to hold a little hand, plus your carry-on bags, plus your
food, plus your waterbottle, etc.
EVERY SINGLE trip we have done, we have people ask us what this is and
where to buy it.
We are off on our own travels
this week, so the iPad will be charged and ready to go. I also have two new Hot Wheels cars in
my purse that will make their debut on the first plane ride, because new cars
always buy at least thirty minutes of entertainment. Here's to happy travels to all of you (and me)!
Time to fly,
Liz
No comments:
Post a Comment