The older child is easier. Just like in the rest of life the older my son gets the the easier he gets. We didn’t hear any “are we there yets?” from the big guy because he knew where we were going and we warned him that it was very far away. Yes, he needed toys and reassurance and lots and lots of food but we could always hop him out of the car and play red light/green light or “find the tractor” as we were driving. The little guy, while he slept more, was stuck in his seat unless we were willing to throw a blanket on the ground at a rest stop and let him crawl around (which was tough since he can’t actually crawl yet). Lastly, he did not really get what Colorado was, only that we were trapping him in the car.
The older child is harder. Just like in the rest of life the older my son gets the harder he gets. Knowing that he would want to be sleeping or entered or fed something tasty meant that our car was packed to the gills with stuff. He required fairly constant entertainment.
Potty training while traveling across country is crazy. While totally doable, I could write an entire article on traveling with a potty training toddler. Like, never put on shorts if the kid is happy in underpants. One less thing to clean. Make going the bathroom as unfun as possible. They will want to go the bathroom but will eventually figure out it is a great way to just get out of the car seat. As in “I want to get out of my seat.” “No.” “I have to go potty.” Then as things get more boring we get more specific request. “I want to go to a gas station to go potty.”
You need less stuff than you might think… I spent weeks, no maybe months, deciding what kind of toys I wanted for the kiddos to get them through the trip. While there were a few toys that were completely helpful and great distractions, the majority of the toys ended up on the floor or literally thrown to the front of the car. Thrown to the front of the car, with force. As that became a consistent theme new toys, or toys at all were introduced less and less. Instead we played a lot of “hey look at the tractor.” “Did you see that air plane?” I brought two newish toys for the hotel and we used one. However, bad weather could have trained that so I’m sticking with my choices there. As it is there were a number of toys I didn’t even give out because of the reasons stated above (the throwing) and thus I’m pretty much done with Big Boy’s birthday shopping.
And more excitement. When I say excitement, I don’t mean things you yourself would find exciting. I mean the same thing toddlers find exciting at home. Or at least toddler boys. Rocks, dirt, trains, fire trucks, loud noises, etc. I was so prepared for the rest stops and boredom that I forgot my audience. At a rest stop, I was ready with paint brushes to paint the ground and horse shoes. I actually packed a new game of horse shoes in the car. What did I need to tire the toddler out? A simple game of “Red light, Green light” or “Simon Says”. Or even better “Can you run to that tree?” That was the game. Our stops were short and often (see No. 3 above) so we did not really feel the need to stretch the stops out, we knew the next step were not that far away.
It is a great adventure. I’m always telling the kiddos “Ready for an adventure.” Usually it is an adventure to Costco or Target or something to get them excited for our errands. In the case of a long car ride if you think of it as an adventure you might be tricked too. This will happen, both good and bad, but either way it will be an adventure.