confession time

[sally howard]

O.K. so we leave in a few days for a 10 day camping trip. A 12 hour drive with 3 in the back seat of the truck touching each other. Then to a confined 5 th wheel camper. Dh disappears a lot. "oh I went for a walk."

If i try that it is..."go keep your mom company." I am not excited at all. We are going to Key West. I am dreading the preparation, the drive, the fighting, the heat...

I know I should not feel this way but they just seem to fight all the time.
And whine if I ask them to carry a bag of grocerys in.

They don't act as bad with dad. Even more frusterating.
I'd rather stay home and wave goodbye to them.

I'm near a depression.

Thanks for listening.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

I think your 3 are growing up! I know its going to be a long trip do you have any road games? Anything to keep them occupied? Once you get to Key West you should have a nice sea breeze and plenty to do! Your look back on these long trips and laugh once your 3 grow up! Try and laugh know and have a good time Life is to Short!
Part of my enjoyment about camping is that we do it as a family and everyone has a task to do to help everyone enjoy there trip!

Good Luck!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Just remember, you probably have more room in your 5th wheel than you would in a hotel room .

Oh and try these....

White Sangria

1 bottle Chardonnay
1 cup oj concentrate
1/3 cup frozen limeade
1/3 cup lemonade
3 cups club soda


You can take some and go do the laundry , I bet they won't go with you there

 

[GreatLakes5]

Sounds like you need to have a heart-to-heart with DH about the concept of mommy time....remind him it's cheaper to let you go for a walk alone than it is to have you walk through the mall with your VISA card

When we pull the 5th wheel and it's back seat for the three of 'em we find that books on CD really keep their minds occupied and occupied minds result in less "accidental" bumping and kicking. Of course investing in the CD player with the behind the seat screens is a good possibility as well .

 

[sally howard]

Thanks for your understanding.
I bought the first season of Flipper yesterday. We also each got a book. oldest did have an ipod until someone decided to steal it. We are borrowing some movies from friends. We do have a hanging DVD player, maybe 9 hours of the theme song from Flipper will put them to sleep.

We leave Friday afternoon.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I have just one word for you - KUNGALOOSH!

 

[UrsulasShadow]

Just remember...when they're older, you can go solo! I don't recommend trying to rush the "childhood years" that often, but at times it helps to keep a countdown calendar for the date your youngest turns 18 (or goes away to college) and plan a "mommy-only" trip (maybe with friends...I just go alone!). You WILL be surprised at how fast the time goes by...my youngest is now 17, and I already have my first solo trip under my belt, and am planning the bash-of-all-bashes for next September, when he goes away to college.

 

[tellnotails]

Can they ride in the 5 er with DH.......

While you

 

[Whosemom]

I'm with ya, sister! We leave Thursday for 16 days in our pop-up! At least we have a van, so we can separate them some for drive time.

I'm never going to be ready in time! And now I realize I need to go to the library to get books on tape! Thanks for the reminder!!

 

[GreatLakes5]

More power to ya with the Flipper season !

As my dad always said (and stole from someone else) "This, too, shall pass..." I keep telling myself I"ll look back on these times and actually miss the crammed in the back seat trips and the whining....Enjoy the trip!

 

[loriandmatt]

i always find that a good swift crack to the back of the head or an inner thigh pinch keeps the back seat bickering to a minimum and just about obliviates the griping about pitching in.

ok, before you all flame me......that was a joke. (well sort of - my kids know "the look" - and it isn't one of defeat or desperation - that directly preceeds the crack or the pinch....and seeing it generally gets them in line.)

Oh, and back seat video games/movies helps too!

cillax, have a drink (you will be in Key West after all) and try to tune it out and keep repeating your mantra "they will be moving out and going to college soon....they will be moving out and going to college soon...."

 

[disney6family]

Something that works for us is to have a work schedule to divide up the work. It used to be - let's go play outside while mom cleans up the trailer, gets ready to go, etc. Now everyone has a job - no matter what the age they can carry something, clean something, pack something. We have a family talk with EVERYONE present and I explain that if I have to do all the work, I will be crabby and when mom's not happy no one is. We talk about how we can divide up the work and when they forget - a warning along the lines of "if we don't get the trailer packed we can't go" or "if the fridge doesn't get refilled you won't have any cold drinks" gets them moving.

Also, I don't know the ages of your children, but mine all pack their own truck bag (we use last year's school bookbag or whichever they decide). These bags stay under their feet. They know they are responsible for taking what will keep them busy and if they don't have something they are expected to look outside of the truck and be quiet (or point out interesting things) Getting into the act and playing the games with them helps tremendously. The state game, license plates, I spy (which is interesting in a moving vehicle) are all favorites of ours. We have also done math problems, spelling bees, etc. When we get the "mom, she's touching, pinching, licking, looking at me" there is one or two chances to work it out, then they sit when we get to the campground instead of getting to ride their bikes while Dad unhooks.
Our DVD player is great, we each get to take 2 or 3 movies then once in the truck we take turns picking (youngest to oldest way down, reversed way up)


In the morning before you leave for the beach say these 4 things need done, who's going to do what? Once you stick to it once or twice and they see you mean it everyone falls in line (not to say without much grumbling - but that's what earplugs are for, just kidding) I figure that the little grumbling is worth me not having to do everything. If I need alone time on our camping trips, I say "Why don't you go to the pool with Dad and Mom will stay here and take a nap or read my book"
Or if none of this works, you can disappear and when you get back and DH is frantic, say "Oh I just went to the bathroom - took me forever" or go do the laundry by yourself with a good book - that can take hours if all the machines are taken!

 

[terri01p]

I totally get that, and have had days like that, our pass trip in April, my dd ( who's married) decided to go with us so me being kind decided to give her the front seat and I sat in the back, by the time we got to FW I was on melt down, and could have slapped the crap out of her when she said the front wasn't that comfortable

 

[sally howard]

The ages are dd 11, ds 8, dd 7. I knew there were more exasperated moms out there. There really is a lot to do to get ready. I will get each to pack a bag of stuff to do. I usually pack little baggies of trail mix and drinks. Now a big worry is the wildfires as we are in Georgia and would like to drive down I75.
The campground does have a laundry. A good book, cold tropical drink and the humm of the dryer will sound good by Tuesday.
Hanging in there.

 

[larkles]

What a supportive group you all are

gameboys, dvd player WITH HEADPHONES, Bingo driving game and stops to stretch their legs at a playground help us. Also water and small healthy (not sugary) snacks keep the grumps at a minimum.

Have fun!

 

[Whosemom]

Sally, mine are 11, 8, and 6. I have "mommy's surprise bag" that I pull treats out of every so often on te car trip. FW is almost exactly 1000 miles from our house, and on the trip there we do "state line treats". Its a blast watching them work out where we are on the map and how much longer they estimate until a treat. Last year, even the the 5yo was doing pretty well.

This year's trip is to Quebec City. The problem with our friends up north is they don't have enough state lines! I'm going to need a new go-by or there's only going to be one treat. LOL.

 

[CottontailCurl]

Hey there! I hate that you're not looking forward to your trip, I hope that changes for you as you get closer. To save your sanity, you definitely need to get the kids involved in each step of getting there. Let them help with making a camping list and then gathering the stuff as it gets closer to time to go. The more involved they are the more they'll appreciate the trip.

About the whining, you have to become Kid Whisperer, use your stern voice and look to let them know when they're getting out of line (not yelling or calling names, etc. just changing the tone is all they need to let them know you're not happy with what they're doing). Kids sense when your defenses are down and they'll try to have the upper hand and that's not good for any of you. Your guys are at the perfect age to let them know their actions have consequences (if you don't behave at 'a' you don't get to do 'b', my kids loved going to the store with me when they were little, I'd use the stern voice at the entrance and tell them if they didn't behave the next time they'd stay in the car or with their Dad or at home. Kids aren't perfect, they're going to argue and mess with each other, there are going to be arguments and bumpy patches, but you'll feel more peaceful overall if they know you're 'the boss of them'.

About the walks your husband takes; you have to become Husband Whisperer, when he starts to walk away, go to him and jab the ends of your fingers into his neck and say ch, ch - ok, I'm just kidding!! Sit down with your husband and tell him how you feel. There's a chance he doesn't know you're at the end of your rope about this vacation. It might help to tell him you'd like everyone to pitch in to get ready and then when you're at the campground everyone work together and then the whole family walk together. Our first few trips I didn't follow this advice; it was my idea to do the camping thing so I did whatever I could to make it not seem like a hardship for the family and it wore me out. There's no vacation in that. Everyone working together is the way to go.

Camping at the Keys sounds like so much fun (I'd love to do that someday). I hope things are more peaceful for you than you're expecting! Let us know how the trip goes.

 

[CottontailCurl]

White Sangria
1 bottle Chardonnay
1 cup oj concentrate
1/3 cup frozen limeade
1/3 cup lemonade
3 cups club soda

That sounds good, do you put slices of fruit in that like regular sangria?

 

[FWCamper]

It is an 18hr. drive for us to the Fort. By the time we get there we are all on edge. DH is driving the RV so I am "waitress on wheels" for the whole time not to mention breaking up the disputes, feeding the kids and caring for the 4 pets. But once we are there it is all worth it.

Now the drive home is something else. Sometimes I feel like jumping out the window Not to mention my declarations that i'm never going with them again.

DH said for our next trip he thinks I should be medicated or fly down and meet them or I need to learn to drive the RV if I really want him to feed himself on the road.

I LOVE the rv and camping but the ride can be torture for a mom!

 

[CottontailCurl]

Now the drive home is something else. Sometimes I feel like jumping out the window Not to mention my declarations that i'm never going with them again.

The trip home from Disney is definitely uphill all the way, it's like there's an anchor dragging behind us.

Sally H. should be in the keys now, I hope all is going well.