Tawanna, Author at Mom's Guide To Travel

Feb 09 2011

Hallmark Recordable Storybook Giveaway

Would you like to maintain your night time routine and read a storybook to your child even while you’re away? How about when your spouse is away?

Hallmark’s Recordable Storybooks give you the opportunity to record your voice reading one of their stories. They have 14 different titles in their inventory, including literary favorites and original stories. One lucky reader will have a chance to win a storybook for his/her family. Here’s how:

Watch the following video of my review of the Hallmark recordable storybook and leave who you think could benefit from having this type of product in your comment.

Good Luck!

Contest ends February 13, 2011. Winner will be randomly selected and contacted on February 14th, 2011. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or else another winner will be announced. Hallmark will ship the recordable storybook directly to the winner.

Feb 08 2011

Thoughts on the Plane

Every once in a while I need to write something that may have nothing to do with providing resources, information or tips. My travels tend to have some sort of “adventure” component to them, somewhere along the line. In the past, except for a select few (i.e. family and best friends), all the craziness has stayed locked in my head. This time I thought I’d share.

On a recent flight, I had the opportunity of putting all my thoughts to paper while certain experiences were happening to me. Here’s what I was thinking while on a Southwest flight – you know, all the thoughts that are running through your head that you wish the other person would hear?

Why in the world would someone bring any type of food on a plane that has onions in it? I mean, come on. Really? I love onions too but you don’t see me unraveling a tuna fish sandwich!

Lady, you’re in the aisle seat, I’m in the middle seat. Maybe it’s the New Yorker in me, but I don’t think asking for a centimeter of personal space is too much to ask.

Southwest, if I order coffee with sweetener, please don’t assume that I need just one. Ask me how many I’d like. Your “LIFT” coffee needs more than one packet. Talk about rocket fuel!

Southwest, thank you for not charging me for the mini pretzels but would it be alright if you could make those bags a little bigger or how about giving me 2 bags? All this air pressure (and those stinky onions) are making me hungry.

Hey Southwest, here’s an idea: do open seating with your planes that just have 4 seats in a row. That way everybody’s happy. Window or aisle? Window or aisle? Easy.

It’s a good thing no one can hear my thoughts. How would you handle any of these situations on the plane? Would you keep your thoughts to yourself?

Feb 02 2011

Travel Instructions for Daddy

In my beloved aunts words: “It’s always good to write everything down”. And as a result of this wonderful advice, my husband survived my 3-day getaway in one piece. In my previous post, I spoke about a solo trip I was taking. Remember I mentioned how busy I’d be, in an almost neurotic state writing everything down for my husband?

Well, I more accurately coined my detailed Daddy-To-Do-List, the “Daddy Action Plan” or DAP for our fellow government/military employees who like acronyms. And just like clockwork, he sucked his teeth at the two-pager sitting on his dresser and said to my three year old, “Mommy acts like daddy doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’m a pro at this.” Uh-huh.

Ironically, the DAP was greeting me in the car seat when he picked me up from the airport. I couldn’t help but smile.

So, here’s what my DAP looks like when I go away. Feel free to use the template for your own getaway.

INSTRUCTIONS

[Insert Your Child’s name here]

School by 8:15. Gym today, put change of clothes in book bag.
Go over spelling words one last time before class. Double check homework is done correctly before breakfast.
Breakfast: Juice, Cereal, Fruit, Vitamins
Pack Lunch: fruit snack, baby carrots, taco minis, baggie of chips
School pick up is 3:00 pm. Come home and change clothes
3:30 pm – Snack and schoolwork
Sign reading book and other school papers in folder
Look over any unfinished school papers and have him finish
Work with him on incorrect answers on school work
Check kitchen board for school schedule to see if any tests the next day. If so, prepare.
4:30 pm Open Play

[Insert Toddler’s name here]

Breakfast right after dropping off Child#1 – Hot cereal, Juice (To make hot cereal, 1 cup almond milk, ¼ c cereal. Let almond milk heat, then add cereal in. Watch that it doesn’t boil over. Add a couple sprinkles of nutmeg and cinnamon. Let it cook down to a more solid consistency. You can go upstairs and wash his face, brush his teeth, get him dressed while it cools. Then allow him to feed himself, work with him of course to speed him along if pressed for time. Strap him in.
Clothes – I have them already picked for the week in his closet.
You’ll need to be out the door by 9:15 if you want to get to school on time. If you’re not there by 9:35, you will have to go to the front desk, sign him in, and wait for the teacher to come to the office to pick him up.
School starts at 9:30 am. Drive down to stop sign, make right, drive into parking lot and walk son across the street. Teacher (insert description of teacher here if husband has never met teacher) will be waiting to take him from you. Pickup is at 12:05 pm PROMPT. You will park in the lot, stand in front of the door (you’ll see other parents waiting) and they will bring him out.
12:30-1:00pm Lunch – Give him a snack like almonds, fruit snack, or popcorn to hold him over while you prepare lunch. Ideas: leftovers, carrot sticks, noodles, nuggets, tuna salad. If he’s not showing much interest, don’t force it. Just give him his milk and put him down for his nap until
2:35 pm when you go to pick up Son #1. Sometimes he’ll sleep through it all and sometimes not. If you want him to stay asleep, be quiet and don’t have a conversation with him or play music/movie on the radio/talk on the phone.
Dinner should be started by 5:45 pm at the latest so that they can eat by 6:30.
7:15 pm – Bathtime
8:15 pm – Bedtime for both of them. Then you’re free!

Do you ever leave instructions like this? Or do you let them just figure it out on their own and deal with the consequences later? I’d love to hear your thoughts and compare notes.

I can’t help but chuckle at myself when I read over them. Maybe my sister is slightly on to something when she calls me occasionally controlling. (^^ shrugging shoulder^^) Oh well.

Jan 23 2011

Traveling without Kids

Any chance that I can get to travel solo, I will sing to the heavens and skip with a song in my head. It is a rare occurrence in many moms’ lives, and I’m no different. Traveling with kids is fun and unpredictable but let’s be honest, when they’re young – it ain’t no picnic, necessarily. Traveling without kids is a time for peace, self-indulgence, and an opportunity to observe other traveling families and take note.

My upcoming trip is to Blissdom ’11, a conference that will be part business and part fun. I have to say that I’m taking its name to heart and searching for a little bit of bliss, in the form of me-time, over the course of 3 days. Preparing for a trip away from the family, however, requires just as much preparation if not more, as a trip together. Granted, my Travel To Do List will be condensed but my At-Home To Do List has already taken on a life of its own.

Am I the only one that leaves a list of instructions for their spouse when they travel without the kids or is that just my minor form of OCD? My sister calls it controlling; I call it peace of mind and helping a brother out (even when he doesn’t think it’s “helping”). My best friend is 100% in my corner on the issue and shares the sentiment that when we are away from the house, husbands need to be told what to do – in writing! Hey, if I were a man, I’d appreciate it. I wouldn’t interpret it as any sort of castration or challenge to my fatherhood. It is what it is: a list of instructions for anyone that isn’t the primary caretaker. Wondering what my instruction list has on it? Here are just a few of the items:

Breakfast Item ideas and hot cereal/waffle cooking instructions
Morning Routine for my 7 year old
Morning Routine for my 3 year old
Directions to my youngest’s school and names of his teachers
Pick up time for my youngest less 10 minutes (just to make sure my husband isn’t late)
After school/Before nap routine for him
Lunch ideas
Reminder to play with my youngest periodically through the day
Homework reminder for my oldest
Dinner suggestions
Hygiene reminders

My husband always gives me this “Really?” look when I leave the 2-pager for him. Yet, when I return from a trip, I see the worn condition of the paper, no longer located in the original location that I left it. Yup, he uses it and I know he appreciates it. Leaving it gives me peace of mind and this time around won’t be any different. I’m flying out for my piece of bliss and I’m doing it worry-free

Jan 18 2011

Vacation from Technology

I’m always talking about physical vacations but I thought to address the notion of taking a digital break – a vacation from technology – after reading a New York Times article “When phones interfere with Flight Safety”. If you’re reading this post, you’re probably like me – digitally wired. Your computer is always up; your phone rarely leaves your side; you have either an iPod, iPad, iPhone or all three; you’re looking for a device that does it all; and you feel out of touch if you don’t check your email or Twitter account at least twice an hour. But sometimes even the most “connected” of us, needs a break – a vacation from technology.

What does that vacation look like to you? Is it for a few hours, a few days, a weekend? Can you stand it or do you feel totally disconnected and out of the loop? Does it even feel like it would be a vacation or would you be more stressed because you think you’re “missing out on something”. When you go on vacation, do you just pack your cell phone and leave the other devices at home or do you bring them with you?

This past weekend I was away from FaceBook, email, Twitter, the blogosphere, social media, my iPad, and any other electronic device that wasn’t a necessity as I executed double birthday parties for my husband and oldest son. Eliminating all the above from my daily routine freed up an amazing amount of time and actually helped to keep my stress levels low as I operated mindless to obligations or deadlines. My vacation from the cyber world felt good I have to admit.

Every now and again, I allow my brain and my fingers a vacation from the texting and the reading and the responding and the engagement. Though I’m not transporting myself to a tropical island with this exercise, I am transporting myself to a simpler time when I didn’t feel pulled by hundreds of invisible wires. I make it a point to not wait until I’m on a vacation to take a vacation from the sometimes chaos of cyberspace and all its technology.

In the end, the break doesn’t kill me – it only makes me sharper. The flooded inboxes are a chore, not a challenge. Everything is handled in due time and I get a friendly reminder of what’s really important afterall.

*Picture courtesy of salon.com.

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