Parenting

I have been told on numerous occasions that my kids are so polite and asked how they learned their manners. To be honest, I am not sure 🤷🏼‍♀️- I realize that they are extremely polite and gracious, however I never specially sat down and taught them to be this way. 

I think the best way to teach our children is to let them see the correct behavior and explain it as you are doing it. Children learn by seeing and doing and when they see you say “Please pass the milk” and “Thank you for passing the milk” they learn that is the correct way to ask for something. You can always add on to this my explaining - I said please to be polite because I was asking for a favor and I said thank you because I am thankful (happy, appreciative) that they passed me the milk. 

Just the same if you say “give me the milk” chances are they will learn to ask in that form as well. 

Kids learn by example. If we are constantly saying please, thank you, excuse me, etc. they will learn how and when to use these phrases. If we are continuously being gruff, short-tempered and unappreciative, then this is the behavior that they will learn. They also learn how to be apologetic and admit when they are wrong. Meaning, if you are short - “get me the milk” and realize it, telling them that you are sorry for not being more polite and asking nicely “Please pass the milk” they will learn how to apologize as well. 

Children are smart and they absorb so much of what they see and hear everyday and we are forming their minds with our words and actions. It is so important that we are emulating what we want them to learn and what we want them to accept. 

Think of it this way. Do you want to have people speaking to your children rudely? Do you want someone to tell them “Get me this, get me that - go do this, go do that…” and for your children to find that acceptable? I know that I don’t. 

While I don’t teach them to be rude, I will teach them to stand up for themselves and not tolerate others’ poor behavior. I will teach my children to wave to the driver that let me get in their lane and I will explain to them why I waved. I will always say thank you when someone holds the door for me and I will explain to them why it is important to say thank you and why it is important to never shut the door in someone’s face. I will explain to them that interrupting is not ok and that it is only acceptable in an emergency. To show them that I will also need to respect their stories and not interrupt them. I will need to put my phone down and give my undivided attention to them when they are telling me about their day so that they know they have my whole attention. I will also look at them when they are speaking so they know that when talking and listening you should be looking at one another (not at a phone, TV, etc.). 

All of the pieces of the puzzle come together, it just takes time. A lot of time and conscious effort to make our children thrive. 

I have said it before and will say it again - Raising kids is HARD! However, raising kids is also so REWARDING! 

After taking a few long road trips with the little's it occurred to me that we are never fully prepared for "all the things” (there are so many different things😲)! 

I have found that there is no such thing as being over-prepared or over-organized, LOL! It’s basically a game of trial and error to see if you can remember to bring everything you need and also to remember where you put it so that it is available in a split second when you need it. The hard part is determining which items were most important and needed to be the most accessible. Honestly, whatever item is at the bottom of the bag is probably what you need the quickest - 😂

One key piece of advice for long trips - try and find all in one travel plazas when you plan on stopping. It is so much easier to stop once for the restroom, gas and food rather than 3 separate stops. It may not always be possible, but when it is - do it! 

It is always useful to have a few spares in the trunk - in this context it is for baby! Having an emergency go-to box for all of life's what-ifs makes traveling (even just daily travel) so much easier! You never know what the day will bring - it could be spills, sickness, soggy shoes from puddles - who knows!

Traveling with kids can be a lot of fun and with that fun sometimes comes chaos! It is important that when the chaos comes you are prepared so that the trip is not derailed - certainly easier said than done, LOL. 

I have found that the having the go-to box in the trunk has been super useful more that once. In my box I have a bag for each child that has one full "what if" outfit and in addition to that beach towel, blanket, first aid kit, roll of paper towels, baby wipes (seriously these things are always useful!), and extra plastic bags for disposing of anything. 

Knowing that you have spares to save the day is definitely helpful and also less stressful! 👍

A few key items - 

1. Spare clothes - onesie,  pants, socks
2. Baby Caps
3. First Aid Kit
4. Diapers
5. Wipes
6. Paper Towels
7. Hand Sanitizer
8. Large Ziplock or Plastic Bag 
9. Blanket
10. Towel
11. Snack tray
12. Storage Basket