It's Tuesday again...which means it's time to link up with Megan of Semi-Charmed Kind of Life for her Travel Tuesday series. This week she asked us to talk about airline travel and what we do to keep busy. Well, as most of you know, I have kiddos. Two rambunctious little kiddos of the male variety. And if you're unfamiliar with this brand of tiny humans, let me tell you...they have A LOT of energy and are not fans of sitting still in enclosed spaces for more than 3.5 seconds.
Keeping kids happy in a car, restaurant, waiting room, or airplane is really #$%&*ing hard.
It is only fitting that I take this opportunity to share with you a little tip that I learned about 5 years ago. When Jonathan was around Jude's age, we were making the long haul flight over the water from Germany to Phoenix. ((Jonathan was born in Germany, did you know that?)) Moving on. As I was trying to get my schitzo-toddler to sit still, a woman behind me with a toddler of her own tapped my shoulder and handed me a kid's restaurant cup. I was all...huh? Inside the cup were about 20 cut up straws.
The instructions are simple...
1. take out the straws
2. Close the lid
3. let the monster toddler place the straws in the cup one by one
That's it.
Peaceful, quiet, busy little person. Ta-Da.
I know. I know. You're thinking...really? That's supposed to keep them busy?
People! It works. Like really really works. Move over V-Tech and Fisher Price.
The great thing about this toy is you can keep one in your purse or diaper bag. I made mine using colorful straws & a sippy cup style cup from Walmart. And if you forget one you can get all of the supplies you need for relatively free from a restaurant.
Go check out the rest of the link-ups at Megan's blog.
I love link-ups.
7 Comments
Great idea - I know my 2.5 yo would love this!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing idea! I'll keep it in mind for when I have kids ... WAY in the future haha. Thanks for linking up. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to tell all the mother's in my life that tip! What a great and cheap idea! I've also heard of people bringing "Survival" kits for the people they sit near, like candy, and ear plugs to help them deal with a nosiy toddler!
ReplyDeleteIf I ever travel with a toddler I'll have one of those too... with a double shot inside.
ReplyDeleteI'm linked up Megan too. What a clever idea! I'm a camp counselor and love getting ideas like this!
ReplyDeleteWHERE was this 2 months ago! 16+ hours on planes, and 4 in the car = 2 very restless kids. Thank God for AA batteries.
ReplyDeleteoh goodness, I wish I had read this earlier... traveling back to the States from Costa Rica all day tomorrow! I will keep it mind for sure!
ReplyDeleteComments are my favorite...