The Drive

My biggest fear with our move from Virginia to Georgia was the drive. My oldest son gets car sick, and my youngest hates the car. Luckily my daughter enjoys car rides so at least I had one I didn’t have to worry about. The scary part for me was the fact I was driving by myself with all three of them!

Our goal was to leave around 5am so they would sleep a few hours in the car….ya, that didn’t happen! About 30 minutes into the drive Will started getting sick and asking me to stop. Then after we stopped, Adalyn, who never gets sick, started getting sick!! And of course this made the baby wake up so it was a car full of nerves! To add to that, I’m not a big night driver and the highway we were on was all semis. I don’t know if its just me, but they have some crazy lights on those trucks and I swear I felt like I could hardly see the road.

It took us about 2hrs to go 60 miles. I’m not sure who was crying more at the start of the trip, me or the kids haha. I had a nice long chat with God though and one of my best friends said the words I needed to hear, “You can do this!” For me, nothing is worse than when my kids are miserable and it breaks my heart to hear them upset or in pain. It was the longest drive of my life, but we all made it and decided no more long car rides for the next 10 years haha!!!

I did learn some interesting things after spending 13hrs in a car…..

• Nacho Doritos are great for kids with an upset stomach! That was the only thing Will would eat and he kept it down!!! Who would have thought?!?!
• Rest stops have great outdoor areas for kids to run around!!! And for Mom’s to do some walking lunges and wake up a bit haha
• DVD’s players in cars REALLY need a remote control!!! It is super hard to try and push those buttons while on a highway!!!
• If your child gets car sick, you can NEVER have too many trash bags in your car. And even if your child doesn’t get sick, have them anyway and space them out around the car!!! Trust me, this is VERY important!!
• Kelly Clarksons Heart Beat Song is GREAT to dance to in the car to wake yourself up!!! And it apparently provides amusement for other drivers too!
• The first hour and the last hours are the longest parts of a car ride! You need a recording of yourself saying “No, we aren’t there yet!” so you don’t go hoarse.
• If your child is watching a new movie, don’t interrupt to ask them if they need to go to the bathroom. They would rather hold it than have to pause their movie.
• Cars with third rows should come with a “stretch arm” so you can hand things back to the child riding in that row. Especially when everyone in the second row is sound asleep.
• It never fails, the moment all 3 kids fall asleep, you are going to run out of gas!!!!
• Coffee is great to keep you alert….but it does cause more bathroom breaks!
• Nothing feels as good as when your feet touch the ground!!!!