Packing for a weekend wedding is challenging, especially when you are one of the bridesmaids. I have spent approximately 2 hours playing Tetris with the car. Everything finally fits, the air-conditioning is on, the wedding cake is secure (help me, let the cake survive this venture please) and my child is strapped in the back.

Ten minutes into the drive…

“Are we there yet?”

Two seconds later.

“Are we there yet?”

“No, we still have to drive for 3 hours.”

I cannot survive the same question over and over for the next few hours. It is time for action.

Car time=bonding time. We both have time. We have nowhere to go besides our destination. We are stuck with each other and no one wants to hear the repetitive question: “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Growing up, we played games on the way to our holiday destination and there was a method in this madness: to prevent siblings from killing one another and to deter all children from their consistent moaning.

“Car time” can honestly be an amazing time and definitely a blessing in disguise.

Here are some “car time” activities and some reasons why:

• Play games in the car: Besides saving the sanity of every parent, it creates a fun environment and at the same time it can teach our children valuable skills.
• Sing songs: Music and singing play such an important role in the development of our children and this is the perfect way to encourage this.
• Play an audio book: The importance of words and the power of words play a vital role for every child. Amazon offers a 30-day free trial on Audible that is great for road trips.
• Educational activities: Counting the cars or looking for objects starting with a certain letter.
• If you know that you have a really long way to go, create an activity pack, you will not be sorry.
• It is a fantastic time for communication: This is my number one reason. Even when we travel home from school this is the time when we catch up on the day and share so much. This time is special.

So whether you are en route to your holiday destination, a friend, school, or an activity, make “car time” your time.

About an hour into the drive to the wedding, he started to become quite tired, we played some music, and soon he was fast asleep. No whining, no moaning, but plenty of memories and the cake survived intact.