Master Planner

It doesn't matter how old you are; buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9 year old was given $100. lisaxy424 - Readers Digest

My husband is a master at planning for road trips. He'll map out the route, looking at all the rest stops, calculating the distance between them and comparing them to the gas mileage our vehicle gets, so he knows which ones we need to stop at so we never run out of gas. 

He lists all the local radio stations along the route so we can just keep tuning the radio to get clear signals... he is amazing at this! And he loves doing it! 

We were talking the other day about maybe going back east in 2018 and when I got home from work he had the route all planned and couldn't wait to show me what he had come up with. He's too funny.

I sometimes hear people talk about how they'd never take small kids on a road trip and I always try to get them to reconsider. Our girls have always traveled well in the car and we were thankful that none of them ever got car sick!

This picture was taken back in the late 80's when they didn't have to be in a car seat after 2 years old or something like that. It was much more relaxed back then. Beth was 4 and Sharaya was 2. Or close to that. These trays were perfect because it gave the girls a place to color or play but then you were able to fold them up and they took up very little space.

One thing we learned going on long road trips with small kids was to stop every few hours for a break. That's where rest stops come in handy! We would pack a beach ball because they'll fit anywhere, no matter how packed your car is!

We'd stop at a rest stop and because we had 3 girls, I'd take them to the bathroom while Chuck blew up the ball and got out some toys. Then we'd spend 30 minutes or so just playing. The rest stops are like small parks that are great for exploring. The kids would find sticks and pretty rocks; we'd go for a walk, take pictures and play tag. It really just allowed them to run off some energy.

Then it was back to the bathroom while Dad got the snacks ready. When they were really small it was things like dry cheerios, raisins, grapes, finger foods that they could eat without a lot of mess. 

Then we'd all get back in the car and they would eat and read or they'd color or play with small toys and before we knew it, they'd be sound asleep! We could usually go 4-5 hours before needing to stop again.

There really isn't anything about a road trip that we don't like, except maybe when it's over! 

Issues

I took Beth to the doctor on Monday and everything looks good. She heard every sound and the doctor even said she's hearing better then most young adults her age. As we age we lose hearing below the 20 decibel level but Beth even heard at 15. She was very impressed.

They put some wax softening drops in her ear then used a syringe to wash out her ear. They had a book called The Body in the room so I was able to show Beth a picture of her ear, along with the inner ear and explain exactly what they were doing. It helped tremendously.


I've been really concerned with Beth's weight lately. She's put on 20 pounds since Christmas!! We're trying to change her eating habits, talking to her about snacking too much. She told me, "I know. I talk to myself about it. No more snack." "Great Beth! That's a very good decision!" We're buying lots of fruit this summer and we always have yogurt, bananas and oranges in the house. Year round. She loves grapes so I try to keep some in the fridge and she knows if she does have a snack, that's what she eats. She used to eat frozen waffles or pancakes for breakfast every morning, with lots of syrup but now she has cheerios almost every day. With no sugar. This morning she was nervous about missing her bus so she just had a yogurt and a cheese stick. She's doing better in  alot of areas, but when she was at the doctor on Monday, she had gained 4 pounds!
One piece of good news, the social group she's a part of, All Aboard was offering an adaptive P.E. class and when I called to sign her up, was told that the teacher had to back out. But then yesterday Beth brought home a paper that said they've found a new P.E. teacher and the class is on again, beginning next month. Thank you Jesus.
Before puberty Beth was as skinny as a rail! But then the weight began to increase. Even though she stayed active, she easily gained weight.
I've been trying to give her things to do at home. She's busy every day this week with bowling or meetings with her job class, the doctor appointment, job hunting. But when she is home, I usually ask her to vacuum, empty the dishwasher or even just walk on the treadmill. I make a list for her and put it on the counter. I came home from work one day and found everything crossed off the list, but none of it done!! I was a stay-at-home mom for 18 years and loved it. Since I've gone back to work, I can't monitor her as much as I'd like.

She wants to sit and write and watch tv. She loves to write. She writes when she's not watching tv. She writes lists of names over and over and over. Dozens of pieces of paper. She no longer throws them on the floor thank goodness and is now at least putting them in the trash, but I'm afraid of what her future is going to look like if we don't get her weight under control.

Chuck's side of the family is obese. His dad died when he was 3 and his mom developed agoraphobia. She didn't get off the couch for 10 years. And my side is all overweight so Beth needs to work harder to just maintain an average weight. She does have hyperthyroidism but that usually means weight loss, not weight gain.