There was recently alot of buzz at the school over International Peace Day, and the elementary grades participated in Pinwheels for Peace.

The campus of school was colorful and the breeze nicely complimented the mission of the day … pinwheels galore were spinning and whirling

The Pinwheels for Peace folks estimate that over 3 million pinwheels were spinning around the world on September 21st.  Cool!

Near the middle school and high school part of the complex, these banners were also displayed.

What do you get when you combine a car, three children, a cat, a vehicle full of luggage and over 800 miles?

You get a ROAD TRIP!

How does one safely make the journey, while also retaining sanity?

Some of our tried and true tips for surviving a road trip with kiddos:


I’m refraining from posting my thoughts on traveling with pets, as I hope to never do that again … if you need tips, email me and I’ll be happy to share our suggestions individually with you.

WHAT TO BRING:

• CELL PHONE CHARGER! Too often I make the organizational mistake of packing this in my luggage that I don’t have easy access to. Huge bummer when you have a cell phone with a dead battery!
• Bottle brush (We love this kind) — makes cleaning out sippy cups a BREEZE when you’re on the go with no access to a dishwasher.
• Boxed milk that requires no refrigeration (We love this kind) — if your kiddos can’t live without milk, this reduces the need for a cooler in the car!
• Ziploc bags of all sizes — perfect for trash bags (when you need to contain smelly trash, or to ensure that random french fries from the last drive-thru lunch stay put instead of all over the car).
• Diapers that your little one has outgrown — maybe a strange tip, but they make for a really fun game of hot potato without fear of breaking or hurting anyone!
• Dryer sheets to place underneath carseats — another strange tip, but it helps keep the car smelling … well … spring fresh!
• Ziploc Big Bags (we LOVE THESE!) — pack one in your overnight bag for dirty clothes. The size holds your entire family’s dirty laundry AND zips shut to keep the odor-ifious-ness contained.
• Travel size of Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. This works for bathtime, sink-cleaning laundry if needed, washing out sippy cups, etc.
• Nightlight. Nothing is worse than an unfamiliar bedroom (whether hotel or with family) than a dark bedroom.

If you are staying in a hotel or with friends along your way, pack what EVERY member of the family needs into ONE bag.

• change of clothes for the next morning
• pjs
• swimsuits
• toiletries
• Ziploc big bag

When you arrive at your first night’s destination, it is so nice to only have to remove ONE bag for the night instead of pulling all sorts of random bags into the lobby, WITH your tired and cranky kiddos.

If you are staying at a hotel, ask the front desk attendant when you check in to allow you to raid their continental breakfast room/fridge for some milk cartons (put them on ice with your bucket) and boxed cereal.

Throw in some fruit, and you’ve got your own bedside breakfast ready in the morning without forcing you to get dressed and wrangle the littles into clothes first thing.

IN-CAR ENTERTAINMENT:

Use a small cookie sheet that magically transforms into a lap desk. The benefits to this are numerous:

• Magnets STICK!
• Colors are contained within the outer lip
• Snacks are easily kept at bay (imagine goldfish flying all over the car when you hit a bump?)
• They easily slide underneath the seats for storage

We find our trips go the best when I’ve pulled aside some toys several weeks prior to our trip, so that the toys become “new” to them.

The dollar bin at Target, or your local dollar store also makes for great “new toys” for in the car. Don’t go overboard, but pick up some cheap things and your kids will be thrilled!

We also intentionally swap out toys every 30-45 minutes … even if they’re not “done” playing with them. Instead of waiting until frustration levels are high and they’re beyond playing with the toys, refresh their scenery and swap out on a regular basis.

Ziploc or grocery-store bag each GROUPING of toys. Explain to your kids that they need to keep all like items together and you’ll all save yourself some much needed energy.

If you have room between carseats, throw in a plastic crate (like THIS) — the crate will serve numerous purposes along the way. (For the kids to keep their juiceboxes, snacks, toys in their reach, etc.)

Pack each kiddo a backpack of their own special things. Include in their backpack their OWN bag of colors, kid-friendly scissors and … a roll of tape. No joke here … that roll of tape can keep them busy for H.O.U.R.S!

Create a BINGO game of sorts (afix it to their cookie sheet lap tray for ease). Identify several things that the kids will be likely to see along your journey and let them color in the squares when they spot each one.

Create a “map” of your journey with your starting location, your final destination and pinpoint several landmarks or locations along the way. Provide stickers just for this map and help your children identify and understand a bit more the process of the journey. It cuts down a bit on the “Are we there yet?” question.

EACH AND EVERY TIME you stop for gas or potty breaks, clean out the car. Take the extra 5 minutes to throw away that trash!

ANOTHER MUST? Designate the pouches on the back of the seats for the kids’ shoes and socks. If they have special blankies or lovies, also use those pouches for those items. Instead of having to search high and low for these things when they are rapidly needed, form a habit of always placing them in those pouches.

DVD Players. I canNOT stress this enough. Each child gets their own DVD player AND headphones. Saves from fighting over which movie to play, whose player is louder, etc.

I’ve long been a lover of music. Music of all kinds.

Music moves me and I often used it to veg, motivate, relax, provide perspective or to just all-out-jam to.

I’ve long wished for my children to also become lovers of music and I’ve been very excited to introduce them – concurrent with our pending move to India – to music from all over the globe.

At our recent Playdate Goes Global, we created cds of various international themed children’s music, but I SO wish that we’d been able to provide each family with a GLOBAL WONDERS CD!

Now available (AS OF TODAY!) through Amazon.com and at Target, ToysRUs and other retailers, this truly great CD features authentic culture in music styles that you moms and dads will also enjoy listening to (I promise!). This is not another one of those cds that you cringe at when your kids ask to listen to it!

Our family has spent many an afternoon be-bopping to this CD and the kids are even learning the words (in other languages!). Global Wonders is an award-winning CD, produced/composed by Jim Latham (who has also written for Disney).

This CD includes an impressive 19 songs spanning the globe – almost literally – with music from India, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, Ireland, Cuba and the United States (New Orleans Jazz, and Hawaiian Tiki). Highlights include a unique version of Vande Mataram, (India’s national song and the second most popular song in the world, per the BBC), incorporating a children’s choir into the chorus; Go Go Greece, a get-up-and-dance traditional Greek song; Banda Dance from Mexico; the Bollywood style India Celebrations; and America The Beautiful in a gospel vibe.

Take a listen at their special Global Wonders YouTube page or check out the Global Wonders website.

This family already has “India” the Global Wonders DVD on their wish list!

What do you get when you combine 14 crazy mommas, over 30 children, some ingenious passports and loads of sugar?

Playdate Goes Global, that’s what!

In a community where diversity is NOT a large part of our children’s day-to-day experiences, two of my friends and I decided that a cultural lesson was in order.

All invited moms were instructed to choose a country, research with their children (admittedly most of us did the work on our own), plan a craft and provide a snack – all that correlated to their chosen country.

We gathered yesterday afternoon for the result and boy was it crazy!

After each mom and kid team set up their tables (some with flags, some with appropriate fabrics, some with music and some with books or reading materials), we started the process of “clearing customs” with each family.

Handcrafted passports were handed out to each child, along with a Country Itinerary (their checklist to be sure they made it to each country).

With all of these countries to visit – Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Poland and Russia – can you believe we made it to all of those locations in just under two hours?

Whether it was sampling mango chutney, eating with chopsticks, tasting eclairs or dipping melons in grecian yogurt, the children were given a fantastic example of what food might taste like in a different country.

No hotdogs, mac-n-cheese or pizza here! What was incredible was that most of the kids responded to their taste testing with a resounding “Mom! That was really GOOD!”

The crafts were equally as educational. Chinese lanterns, german pretzels (made from playdough), coloring boomerangs, Indian rangoli, Faberge eggs or pasta art from Italy, these kiddos exercised their creativity!

When we planned this event, we envisioned a very brief introduction to various countries and how people live on these far away places, with playtime taking up the majority of the time. What surprised us was how “into it” everyone got.

We watched kids run up to other kids and ask “Have you been to China yet?” or “Oooh, go make the craft in Germany!”

We as parents have a responsibility to teach our children not only about manners and their ABCs, but also to be more culturally aware. We owe it to our kiddos to help them understand that there is an entire world out there.

Just across the ocean, just across our borders … lies a completely different way of living. Whether it be the standard dress of a country, varied religious practices or general ways of life … it can be incredibly rewarding to watch your little ones soak up this new information.

Many schools host international/cultural fairs when children are in 3rd or 4th grade. However, you don’t have to wait until your kids get into elementary school to start expanding their horizons.

Gather some of your friends together, and host a ‘trip around the world’ for the benefit of your kiddos!