This is an older post from 4 years ago. I added a few new things but left most of the info the same. I wrote this back when I was not able to post on a regular basis so I told myself I had to save them up until I could. I am no longer doing this! I will post whenever I have an idea and am able to write it. It might be once per day, once per week, once per month, or once per year.
Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and for the most part they are well behaved. But they are KIDS! And with four of them, there is always someone to play with and it doesn't take long for them to wind each other up! What should be a 20 minute trip usually ends up being a 2 hour trip. And some days, I'm just not sure filling the fridge up with groceries is worth the stress! I'd much rather just make PB&J for dinner and play with my little sillies! Alas, at some point, we all must go out!
Although there are several things I've learned over the years to help the trip go more smoothly, my favorite trip is any trip that keeps the kids in the car for the most part!
First things first, if you are not already doing the basics, these things will help you immediately!
Snacks: Take the time to bring non-perishable snacks and water bottles on the trip. If you don't live in a ridiculously hot place like I do, you can keep some in the car to save time. If you really want to keep your kids happy, bring perishables (apple sauce pouches, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes) to eat right away along with a fun drink. On a perfect day (which rarely happens!), I would bring a little bottle of koolaid flavoring with me to pour in the water bottles when we refill at the water fountain. They don't get this all the time, but the extra sugar from one little squirt is way worth avoiding them asking for sonic drinks or capri sun pouches at the grocery store. If they feel like they are having a yummy treat, they are much less likely to feel deprived when I say no to the extras. As for the perishable food, the trick is to have everyone buckled in the car before you hand them out so they don't dilly dally when it's time to go. Otherwise, there is always one kid who just can't manage to get buckled in a timely manner. If you forget the snacks, grab a bag of pretzels, popcorn, or cereal while you are in the grocery store along with a pack of 8 oz. cups. We keep these cups in the car all the time to allow for cheap snacking on the road. Just open the package up once everyone is buckled in and pour it in the cups. We also do this for curbside pickups. We just open up a package of snacks to munch on the way home.
Bathroom Breaks: Our rule is if we have to stop to go to the bathroom, everyone has to try. Unless they just went or it's not convenient. If we are in a store and are not too far away from the bathroom, but I don't want to stop to take everyone yet, I'll send a pair of kids. Especially if it's my 9 and 10 year old boys. I have tried having my 9 year old walk his 6 year old sister to an individual bathroom, but she's not my most independent child so that sometimes back fires. In that case, I usually just head to the nearest individual bathroom (if they have one) and have her go in by herself while I'm still outside to offer assistance if she needs it.
Errand Days: As much as my kids don't want to spend hours running errands, they would rather do that then have to run them every day. If you head out with your kids to go somewhere specific (school for example), then it might make more sense for you to tack one errand on at the end of that trip each day. For us, we home school and don't need to go somewhere every day. So for us, getting everyone ready to head out every day is more trouble. Not to mention we've moved further out where we have to drive at least 15 - 35 minutes to get to most stores. Everything used to be 5-10 minutes away so running there for a few minutes was no big deal. Now every time we leave, we're gone for at least an hour, so going to several places while we're already out makes much more sense.
Activities: This may not apply to you as much if your stores are close by or if you don't use my next tip to stay in the car more. For us, putting in a kids dvd (they don't care if they've seen it 35 times!), and letting it play between errands keeps them from remembering to get bored! My 9 year old is always saying, "wait, we're already here?!" The time flies while they are watching the movie!
And if you are not already, definitely take advantage of curbside pick up and home delivery. We do curbside pickup at Sams, Target, and Aldi regularly. We also utilize free delivery from Target, Amazon, and Children's Place. My kids would much rather be playing at home than walking through grocery stores for hours and I completely agree with them!
Snacks: Take the time to bring non-perishable snacks and water bottles on the trip. If you don't live in a ridiculously hot place like I do, you can keep some in the car to save time. If you really want to keep your kids happy, bring perishables (apple sauce pouches, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes) to eat right away along with a fun drink. On a perfect day (which rarely happens!), I would bring a little bottle of koolaid flavoring with me to pour in the water bottles when we refill at the water fountain. They don't get this all the time, but the extra sugar from one little squirt is way worth avoiding them asking for sonic drinks or capri sun pouches at the grocery store. If they feel like they are having a yummy treat, they are much less likely to feel deprived when I say no to the extras. As for the perishable food, the trick is to have everyone buckled in the car before you hand them out so they don't dilly dally when it's time to go. Otherwise, there is always one kid who just can't manage to get buckled in a timely manner. If you forget the snacks, grab a bag of pretzels, popcorn, or cereal while you are in the grocery store along with a pack of 8 oz. cups. We keep these cups in the car all the time to allow for cheap snacking on the road. Just open the package up once everyone is buckled in and pour it in the cups. We also do this for curbside pickups. We just open up a package of snacks to munch on the way home.
Bathroom Breaks: Our rule is if we have to stop to go to the bathroom, everyone has to try. Unless they just went or it's not convenient. If we are in a store and are not too far away from the bathroom, but I don't want to stop to take everyone yet, I'll send a pair of kids. Especially if it's my 9 and 10 year old boys. I have tried having my 9 year old walk his 6 year old sister to an individual bathroom, but she's not my most independent child so that sometimes back fires. In that case, I usually just head to the nearest individual bathroom (if they have one) and have her go in by herself while I'm still outside to offer assistance if she needs it.
Errand Days: As much as my kids don't want to spend hours running errands, they would rather do that then have to run them every day. If you head out with your kids to go somewhere specific (school for example), then it might make more sense for you to tack one errand on at the end of that trip each day. For us, we home school and don't need to go somewhere every day. So for us, getting everyone ready to head out every day is more trouble. Not to mention we've moved further out where we have to drive at least 15 - 35 minutes to get to most stores. Everything used to be 5-10 minutes away so running there for a few minutes was no big deal. Now every time we leave, we're gone for at least an hour, so going to several places while we're already out makes much more sense.
Activities: This may not apply to you as much if your stores are close by or if you don't use my next tip to stay in the car more. For us, putting in a kids dvd (they don't care if they've seen it 35 times!), and letting it play between errands keeps them from remembering to get bored! My 9 year old is always saying, "wait, we're already here?!" The time flies while they are watching the movie!
And if you are not already, definitely take advantage of curbside pick up and home delivery. We do curbside pickup at Sams, Target, and Aldi regularly. We also utilize free delivery from Target, Amazon, and Children's Place. My kids would much rather be playing at home than walking through grocery stores for hours and I completely agree with them!
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