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Kajeet Cell Phone

The holidays are wonderful but there IS stress that goes along with the holidays that can turn your dream of a perfect family holiday into a nightmare.  This is the first in a series of Holiday Anti-Stress Tips that might be helpful to you and your family this holiday.  There are lots of articles and information (or at least it seems like there are alot) about traveling with children.  Little children.  But I haven't read many "real world" tips on how to travel with the older kids.  Here are some things I've learned along the way on how to travel during the holidays....with tweens and teens.

Prepare for the Roadtrip:  Electronics = Happy Teens
Traveling with kids can be a challenge...and if you think it gets better when they are older, then let me tell you that certain things get better but kids are still kids.  Even the high schoolers get out-of-sorts when the routine is busted up!   But unlike toddlers or babies, older kids are too cool to tell you that they are uneasy about the travel and it comes out in rude behavior or sulking.

You have to PLAN AHEAD and keep expectations realistic for family travel, even if your kids are tweens are teens.  We travel sometimes during the holidays and other times we do not.  Here are some of my tips for keeping the holiday time happy for your family and keeping stress to a minimum.  Or at least keeping stress down to a dull roar.

Ipods, Gameboys DS and PSP-Life Savers
Traveling with tweens and teens during the holidays, you need to relax some of the normal household rules of electronics use (in my opinion).  Holiday travel means the family schedule is out of whack---and if you are taking the tweens and teens away from their friends (gasp!), loosening up on the electronics useage for your kids is a must.  You are in survivial mode...and a cheerio or a "Barney" stuff animal just doesn't cut it anymore as far as soothing the savage children.  Let them listen to their music, take along their games and you will find that you have created some goodwill.  Or in the worst case senario, if your teen is in a REALLY surly stage, you can use the electronics as a bribe.  Yes, I said bribe.

Cell Phones
Most teens and tweens have their cell phones attached to them 24/7, so they can "txt" their pals.  As long as the kids follow general good manners and aren't texting at the holiday dinner or while grandpa earl is trying to talk to them, let them use their cell phones over the holiday as usual or if you are feelling generous, a little more than usual.    As you know from previous posts, our kids both have Kajeet phones. We love the fact that we have access to the cell phone account and Tim and I can add money to their "Kajeet wallet" so they can get ringtones or graphics or extra airtime if they are being especially helpful.  We totally use the Kajeet phone as a "Motivational" tool.  Some call it a bribe but those people probably aren't traveling with teens on a holiday. 

Portable DVD Players to Go
If you don't already have a portable DVD player from the days of traveling with toddlers (I can still sing all the tunes from "Beauty and the Beast" from playing the DVD endlessly one holiday trip), BUY ONE NOW!  You can get good portable DVD players that can play in the car just about anywhere these days and at a bargain price.   Best Buy has portable DVD players starting at $89.99 for a basic model. 

In Motion:  Rent Electronics for the Roadtrip
At some airports, you can rent DVDs and DVD players for the trip at In Motion Entertainment.  You can rent a DVD player at one airport and return it at another airport.  You can also rent games and music.  I have never been so glad to pay for something as I was last summer during a holiday trip with the girls.  A short trip, direct flight to see relatives turned into a Twilight Zone episode due to weather.  We were waiting in the Denver airport for hours when I saw the IN MOTION entertainment store...it saved my sanity that trip and gave the girls something to focus on besides the fact that one was touching the other one (or looking at the other one in a bad way).

The message here is that there are no more "binkies" or dollies or toy trucks to comfort a child that is out-of-sorts.  Even though your child looks like he or she is an adult, the fact is that they are not.  I'm not advocating lots of electronics use all the time but when you are traveling, I believe it's good to relax the rules a bit for the roadtrip.


Find more stories and tips for the holidays at Family.com's Yule Blog