© Can Stock Photo / robwilson39
Are We There Yet?
Growing up, the school holidays meant staying at home or going to the movies with friends. When I was really young, I don’t think we did anything other than stay at home. As one of four children under 5, my parents just didn’t have time (or energy, or money) to take us anywhere during the school holidays.
Even now, with two kids of my own, I really couldn’t think of anything worse than travelling somewhere during the school holidays.
I am a homebody – I love being at home. So we do day-trips to places.
However, I know a lot of parents LOVE getting away. They love packing up the car and driving for hours to get out of their home town, and escape reality for a bit, with their family. Some are even lucky enough to get on a plane and out of the country!
When I think of getting in a car with kids for a long period of time, I get the jitters. Honestly I couldn’t think of anything worse. Especially when you hear the dreaded “are we there yet?” words …
HOWEVER, gone are the days where your only option is to listen to music, talk to each other, or fight.
Here are some tips that Netflix recently put together to surviving a plane trip, but these still translate to a car trip:
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Devices are a legitimate way of helping your kids survive a long trip – whether it’s by plane OR by car. If you have Netflix, you can now download your child’s favourite show to your tablet or phone. Meaning you can do it using while you’ve got access to Wifi and not use the data on your phone once you set off on your travels.
Taking a backpack full of your kids favourite toys, books and snacks is another great way to ensure you never hear “Are we there yet?!”. It also means you might have to make less stops along the way (if you’re in a car) to get snacks.
If you’re on a plane, having noise-cancelling headphones can be a godsend. This goes for in the car too – if the kids are allowed to listen to music on a device, or allowed to watch their favourite Netflix show (My Little Pony is a favourite here) then let them use headphones.
The team over at Netflix actually sent me a pair of these Boise Quietcomfort 35 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Wireless headphones. They’re freaking amazing.
And let’s be honest, if you don’t want to give these to your kids, then perhaps just use them yourself to drown out the “background noise” aka your kids LOLOL.
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Traveling with kids by car, or by plane doesn’t have to be a chore. Utilise the many options at your fingertips and do what you can to keep you and your kids sane during any type of traveling.
Netflix have really outdone themselves by having the ability to download their movies / TV shows. Like I said above, this means you can line up all the things you think your kids will love, while you have access to WIFI, and then have it ready for your trip!
GENIUS!
Whilst this post isn’t specifically sponsored by Netflix, they did send me an amazing pack (which incidentally I forgot to actually take a photo of, but I did snapchat about it LOL) and encourage us to think about / talk about how we would utilise our travel items.
Here’s a picture of what was in it as per Dad’s Patch’s photo on Instagram:
Thanks again for the delivery Netflix – we will be sure to incorporate this in our travels – or perhaps when I just need a moment to myself at home LOLOL
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