DVDs rock any road trip, and if you don’t have a built in DVD player I highly recommend getting a portable one.  Hours can fly by with just a few DVDs!  Be sure to keep your DVDs organized in a small CD case that holds about 8 to 10 movies in it so that they’re all easy to find and portable.

            Before I leave I usually buy activity books, travel games or, our favorite, Crayola Color Wonder coloring books.  From mazes to word searches to math puzzles and more, our kids can find something they love to do.  The Color Wonder markers are perfect for little ones since they don’t show up on anything but the Color Wonder paper.  My two year old would have had the most colorful car seat ever had it not been for those markers.  Throw all the markers and coloring book into a gallon size Ziplock bag so that they’re all together and easy to keep track of.

            Another fun way to entertain the kids is to get magnetic story books.  If you Google “magnetic books” you’ll find all kids of characters and stories.  We have even taken one of our metal cookie sheets and used if for magnets and then turned the cookie sheet over and it doubles as a lap desk for them to color a page on.  The lip on the cookie sheet keeps the markers and pencils from rolling off and the magnets stay put on the other side!

            Keeping all of these fun activities organized and easily on hand doesn’t have to be fancy or cost a bunch of money, in fact we use what I consider the greatest car organizer ever: a big bag!  Yep, that’s it.  I like to use those reusable grocery bags that you can get for under a buck or for free from the local grocery store.  We just chuck everything in the bag and as the kids need something out of it we pass it around and they dig for what they want.  When they’re done with an activity they just throw it back in.  Even my two year old can reach over and drop her coloring book in to the bag from her car seat.  A simple, cheap, easy and effective way to keep a car organized.

            The only thing better than having a big bag o’ fun on a road trip is to be beamed straight to your vacation!  Man, where’s Scotty when you need him?!

For more organizing posts like this one please check out www.organizedmom.net where I posted this and much more on organizing for your family and life, along with my two sister-in-laws who are also amazing organized Moms!

I have found with each of my babies that the best way for them to be OK with leaving Mom is having a “good bye” routine.  The whole routine takes between 5 and 20 minutes and there are many things you can do like nursing/feeding, reading a favorite book, singing a song, snuggling and rocking in a favorite chair.  Whatever you would like to do but it’s the same every time no matter who house he’s staying at.  It’s best to do it at their home so that he becomes comfortable in his new environment with you helping him.  At the end you give your baby something familiar like a pacifier, blanket or stuffed toy (something comforting), give hugs & kisses and leave.  Don’t draw out the end and do not go back for more when he starts to whimper or cry.  It really is harder on you than it is on him when you leave.    Take heart, he will be OK!  When you return make it a really big deal and shower him with tons of love so that he will feel secure that you will always return and always love him.

Consistency is key in this process!  It takes some time, even more if he’s really strong willed, but he will start to learn the cues that Mom is going to leave and it’s OK.  This technique works well with babies, toddlers and even kids who have a hard time going to pre-school.
When it comes to someone else feeding baby, try not to be in the room and try not having anything that smells like you in the room either.  A baby knows exactly what Mom smells like and why would they eat from a bottle when they can smell Mom nearby with the good stuff. 
Also three months is the age when babies start to fall into natural sleep patterns and catching the timing is very important for setting up great sleep habits.  Check out the book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Dr. Weissbluth.  It’s so great!  The more rested your baby is the more adaptable he’ll be to new situations.  If he becomes chronically tired (by a baby’s standard) the harder it will be for him to accept you leaving, someone else feeding him and falling asleep somewhere besides his crib.  It’s important for his babysitters to also know what his sleep patterns are and what to do for him to help him get the sleep he needs.  It’s all explained in the book on what to look for and how to do it. 

I hope this helps!  I know it’s very hard to leave your baby (no matter what their age) but knowing that they’re in good hands, and happy, will go a long way towards easing your aching heart and it will make the time you do have with him that much sweeter.

Luckily none of my other kiddos were around to hear our little exchange and it made me pause and think, is she my favorite?  If my older kids had asked for a piece of candy would I have given them some?  No.  Why hadn’t I told her no?  Was it because I favored her over my other kids?

I have to admit that there have been times when I have had fleeting thoughts of who was my favorite, or my least favorite.  I know, I know.  It sounds cruel, but really the word ‘favorite’ is just the wrong word to use.  If I only had one child then, yes, favorite would be the right word to use.  But since I have four it just doesn’t apply.  Those moments of “favorite or least favorite” were actually more moments of favorite or least favorite phase.  Examples of least favorite include potty training, tantrums, and when they learn to sass back and slam doors.  On the other hand.  My favorite phases include when they love to give you hugs and kisses all the time, when they find their creative side and cover the fridge with drawings, and about the age of 6-9 months, when they can usually sit up, giggle and play but they’re not yet mobile.  Between four kids one, two or three of them might be in any given phase at the same time.  Unfortunately, when three of them are in my least favorite phases all at the same time, it might seem like that the last one is the “favorite child”.  Which is funny to think about because it’s usually that child who doesn’t get as much attention over all.  Definitely not conducive to the favorite child theory. 

Sometimes I wonder if my kids think that one child might be my favorite because they think that I love that child more than I love them.  Which is very sad to think about, yet understandible when you are a five year old boy sitting in time out watching Mommy hug the three year old daughter (with the owie inflicted by the five year old).  It might seem as though that child is more loved and therefore the favorite.  Obviously that’s just not true, because as soon as the five year old is done in time out and talked with Mommy the hugs and kisses are just the same for him.  Again “favorite child” idea thrown out the window.

I think that what it really boils down to is that favoritism could be construed because as a parent you love each one of your children, but differently.  I love each of my children, not in different amounts, but in different ways because they are different from each other.  I know their strengths, I know their weaknesses, I know what they like and what they don’t like.  I know how they like to be shown love and I know when not to show them love, like kisses in drop off line at school.  Each child is different and therefore needs to be parented differently and loved differently.  Try explaining that to the angry child who’s screaming, “It’s because he’s your favorite!”

“No, honey, it’s just that you’re different.” 

OK, Bad idea.

Maybe as a parent it’s just best to know that sibling jelousy is going to happen at some point.  And someday when they have kids of their own and feed one of them a chocolate covered raisin, they’ll realize that they are not playing favorites, they’re simply bribeing their child to stay quiet.