Car-Ride Treats

In the course of logging about 60,000 travel miles with my kids in the past eight years, I've found that most complaints can be tempered with simple solutions that can actually make it fun to travel as a family. A good game, for example, makes the miles fly by. In addition to games, I've developed many activities and strategies designed to amuse the most bored backseat passengers (click on the following links to see them all: audiotapes for the road, classic road-trip games, getting-to-know-you games, inventing, finding and counting games, scavenger hunt for the car, scavenger hunt for the plane, tray-top games and the ultimate travel activity bag). I hope they'll help smooth your own family's journey.

Here are some food-related ideas on dealing with two inevitable questions from the backseat:

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BE THERE?
When the kids hit me with this one, I reach for my secret sanity weapon: car-ride treats. A car-ride treat is a snack that takes a long time to eat, isn't all that messy and is something we don't usually eat at home. Current favorites are the cheese and crackers that come individually wrapped with a red plastic stick for spreading the cheese; lollipops; candy necklaces you can wear and eat; and Fruit Roll-Ups.

When we start a trip, we tell our kids they'll get the first treat when we reach an upcoming landmark, such as a town or a statue. And, whenever we hit a meltdown point, I come up with some reason why it's time for a treat, saying something like, "You guys have been so wonderful for the last hour that you can have a treat now."

Another tactic: Give each kid 10 coins before the trip. Each time they ask "Are we there yet?" they have to pay the grown-ups a coin. We let our kids earn their coins back if they do something nice, such as letting their sibling sit where he or she wants.

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO EAT?
Off the road, I'm a health-conscious mom. But when I'm traveling, I don't have a problem with making pit stops for fast food. I'm more concerned with my family's happiness than their grease and salt intake. Gone are the hours I used to spend packing sandwiches and peeling carrots before a trip. These days we've made fast food another travel tradition. Since we don't usually eat at those places, doing so is another treat.

I also bring a few snacks just in case there aren't any restaurants in sight. Snacks are different from car-ride treats in that they're real food and they actually pack some nutrition. Peanuts and fruit are popular snacks with my family.

When she isn't placating her backseat passengers, Susan Fox is a freelance writer in Palo Alto, California.

Updated August 2005.