Road-trip games promote bonding

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I reeeeeally have to go to the bathroom.”

“Are we there yet?”

Sound familiar? If it does, you have obviously had the guts to travel with kids, bless your heart.

With the summer holidays approaching, you’re likely faced with packing up the kids and heading half way across the country for a lovely vacation. Yes, quality time (trapped) with the family ... in a car ... for two weeks. Uh oh. Fun, yes, but on the other hand, how will you live through it?

Rather than consulting a family therapist for a text-book answer, I turned to the pros who live on the road: Touring musicians, a rare breed of big kids who eat, sleep and entertain themselves in cramped quarters with other big kids doing the same.

These people have mastered the art of amusing themselves during long treks on the road. The novelty of the old standby, Slug Bug, wore off a loooong time ago on these folks.

Sitting in the back seat, you can only listen to your iPod, watch movies on your portable DVD player and text to your friends for so long.

The members of the Dixie Chicks occupy their time with a game of “Would You Rather ...” It’s basically a round of dares: Would you rather do this gross, disgusting thing or that gross, disgusting thing? (My brother would have won this, hands down.)

If you’re not a fan of revolting stunts that might require a ... er, um, travel sickness bag, check out your local book store for selections that will keep your kid’s nose in a book and out of your hair. Or pick up travel-size versions of their favorite games, including Scrabble Deluxe, Monopoly Jr., Clue Jr., Snakes and Ladders, chess and solitaire.

If you don’t feel like going on a scavenger hunt for board-game pieces, however, visit www.travelwithkids.
about.com/cs/printgames for printable car games for traveling with kids, like rhyming games and the license plate game, which challenges children (the grown up kind and otherwise) to search for license plates from different areas.

Singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw apparently don’t need to use any of these tricks. Their oldest daughter loves the road. Of course it helps that she has her own bunk, a nanny who’s paid to keep her entertained and duplicates of all of her favorite toys from home.

Traveling with the family for me, on the other hand, involved being in a motorhome with my race-car-driver dad traveling from racetrack to racetrack, so I always had plenty to keep me occupied. When I was a kid, a TV in the car was something you would have only seen on the Jetsons. When we lost reception on the AM/FM radio, we were back to looking for VW Bugs and screaming from the punch that followed when one of us spotted the old classic. By the way, Dad, thanks for never leaving me at a rest stop.

Of course, healthy food and your budget are considerations for any trip. To avoid having to stop at every McDonalds along the way (and draining your bank account for takeout food), be sure to pack some snacks to keep the youngsters satisfied. I speak from personal experience when I suggest leaving the really sweet stuff at home. Few things are worse than a kid contained in a small space who’s wired on candy.

Of course, if you really don’t feel up to the challenge of driving cross-country with the kids, there’s always Plan B: Send Grandma an airplane ticket.

For a detailed companion story on keeping the kids entertained while on the road, visit www.wheelbase.ws/media.

Among her numerous accomplishments, Courtney Hansen is an author, the host of Spike TV’s “PowerBlock,” the former host of TLC’s “Overhaulin’ ” and a writer with Wheelbase Communications. You can e-mail her by logging on to www.wheelbase.ws/mailbag.html.