Traveling with a toddler
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It?s one of the endearingly funny scenes in Shrek 2. Donkey is behind Fiona and Shrek as they travel to Far Far Away and every ten seconds or so he pipes, ?Are we there yet? Are we there yet?? The irascible donkey is undeniably hyper and eager to get to the journey?s end where a host of promising and exciting things await him.
Such is the heart and mind of the hyper child. My own 5-year-old, on any car/bus/train/plane/choose-your-conveyance trip, will ask incessantly after the first 30 minutes of the ride, ?Are we there yet? Is it far still?? It seems the worst combination can only be this: hyper kid and long trips.
But the conflict between high-energy kid and seemingly endless voyage can be turned into a lovely paradox: you can use the trip to feed, enhance, and sate high-energy child?s endless curiosity and boredom.
When my son was 2, although he could not yet read, he was keen on logos, signages, and colors. We would play games with signs along the way. ?What sign is that?? would be met with any of the following: ?A STOP sign!?; ?The post office!?; ?Pedestrian crossing!? When he was 3, he was beginning to master his letters. We would do spelling games with signs. ?Mama, look! S-T-O-P. Stop!? There were guessing games. ?I see something made of steel, standing on the corner, colored green, which firemen use as their water source in taking out fires. What is it?? Our son would search frantically, using directional cues (on the corner), color and material cues (made of steel, colored green), and allusions to his Elmo DVD?s (firemen taking out fires on
Before he knew it, the trip was over and he had not noticed how much time had elapsed. In fact, time would seem not enough for all the guessing games he could still have played had the train not pulled into the station.
Now he?s 5 and on our trip to
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