Steroids Done Right

The phrase road trip makes just about anyone roll their eyes and begin telling stories of the times spent in the car forced to sit between their great grandmother and teenage sibling. When I think of road trips I can’t help but think of Clark W. Griswold tying his dead great-aunt to the roof of his family station wagon.

That movie will crack just about anyone up. Who hasn’t been on a family road trip when something goes wrong? The car blows a head gasket, the campground has given away your site or someone throw up in the backseat. It doesn’t help that road trip memories from my youth are filled with candy, Kool-Aid and fast food as the primary menu options. I can tell you that these food choices definitely didn’t help the behavior in the backseat of four fighting offspring.

Fifteen years after being subjected to road trips with our own parents, we’re doing the same with our own offspring. Only this time, you have the cargo carrier, the dog, backpacks, GPS, ipods, headlamps and the gear that just wasn’t around when we were kids. Don’t forget the offspring breathing one each other in the back seat.T

My question is why we pack the cooler for the destination versus the journey? It doesn’t take much space to add some fun and healthy picnic-like options to the cooler. It’s so much easier to avoid fast food pit stops when you have great food choices right in your back seat. Here are a few tips on how to make that happen:

It’s important to avoid blood sugar crashing empty calorie foods. You don’t want these items taking up precious space in your cooler:

* Candy

* Soda

* White flour products ( if going with bagels, go whole grain or pumpernickel)

Stock up beforehand with the following (or similar) items:

* Water

* Cheese sticks

* Crackers ( whole wheat or gluten free)

* Fresh fruit ( which you can purchase pre-cut at almost any grocery store to save on time)….apples and pears work well as they’re not too messy and can be cut into slices beforehand and sprinkled with lemon juice to keep from browning.

* Fresh produce: mini carrots, celery sticks, bell pepper strips, etc.

* Mini packets of natural peanut butter such as Justin’s

* Whole wheat pita bread holds sandwich contents nicely

* Rice cakes

* Nuts and seeds

* Pre-packaged trail mix packets (Trader Joe’s carries perfectly sized packets for kids)

* Organic Valley milk in aseptic containers, Rice Dream carries small juice-box sized cartons for Rice Milk as well

* If you’re up to it, go ahead and bake some whole grain muffins or cookies as a special treat. Remember to use alternative sweeteners such as applesauce and real maple syrup.

* Air popped popcorn with a little coconut oil and salt make for a tasty treat everyone will enjoy

* Granola bars-home made or purchased. Watch the sugar content here.

* Dried fruit…this will also help keep everyone “on schedule” for potty breaks as you’re limited on activity with long road trips.

Other essentials to pack:

The other piece missing from road trips other than the food is movement. Think of those days when you’re stuck in the office all day or never got a chance to stick your head out for fresh air…you get antsy, right? Multiply that by one hundred for your kids. It’s nice to pack a picnic blanket and a simple movement producing activity such as jump ropes. When you’re done fueling up the car, pull over to a grassy square at the edge of the parking lot. Soak up a few rays, move your bodies a little and breathe in some fresh air. You may find this list helpful:

* jump ropes ( not JUST for the kids!)

* picnic blanket

* baseball and glove

* chalk (in a corner of the parking lot, draw lines on the asphalt such as for a relay race or sprints and challenge each other for who can run back and forth in the least amount of time!)

A word about treats:

I was a kid once, too, and though I think we had many more treats than we needed, I always take into consideration what treats mean for my kids and when and how to bring them out. Being on the road for long periods of time is tough on everyone, even with exciting scenery, audio stories and DVD players. Sometimes sugar free gum isn’t enough to tide a child over for one more hour. Though bribery is a fine line, we all know when to pull out the tricks needed to bar off one more question of, “are we there yet?” Having a couple things tucked out of view might be a good idea. I might include all natural licorice, sugar & HFCS free lollipops or perhaps a small bag of M&M’s…goodness knows what I’d do for a few peanut M&M’s myself!

It is also good to remember that food doesn’t have to be the only thing we consider treats. Perhaps we’ve downloaded a few extra audio stories or brought home videos of Christmas at grandma’s house to play on the DVD player to buy a little time. Maybe each child gets a new set of crayons or colored pencils, stickers or beeswax to keep little hands busy and voices to a whisper.

You will reap the benefits of a more harmonious road trip by implementing some of these ideas…though sibling rivalry will be what it is…maybe, for a little humor, the parent who drives the longest is granted a special set of ear plugs! To many happy road trips for you and your family!

Nichi Hirsch supports moms during pregnancy, birth, postpartum and beyond as a lifestyle coach, craniosacral therapist and birth & postpartum doula in Minneapolis. You can get Nichi’s New Parent Tool Kit, for free, by going to: www.MyHealthyBeginning.com, which is filled with natural baby care tips.