Traveling to grandparents but they are not equipped for toddler
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Anonymous
This. Basically, live a normal 3-year-old-based existence and your parents can join you or not, their choice. Rent a car so you can come and go as you please. Before you go, research local offerings and sketch out a plan for every day. Monday--trip to McDonalds or local breakfast joint for breakfast and coffee, then a trip to the library for story time and to check out a huge stack of books to bring back to your parents' house. Then a stop at the grocery store to stock up on kid friendly foods. Then home for lunch with your parents. Afternoon, a trip to a local park, then stop at Walmart for some bubbles, chalk, matchbox cars, a ball, finger paints and a bin to keep things in. Then back home for dinner and fingerprinting. Tuesday--back to the park after breakfast to play with chalk, bubbles, ball. Back home for lunch, then a trip to a matinee in the afternoon. Etc. |
Anonymous
I disagree with this. It's easy to entertain a 3 year old with walks in the park, a trip to the library, a meal at Mcdonalds. It's only going to get harder as her DS gets older. Do this now to set up routines and traditions with grandparents that can be looked forward to and repeated. Maybe a cooking project that you always do at Grandmas house, etc. |
Anonymous
| Either go and commit to be positive and a problem solver and you will have a trip. If you fly across the country and complain the whole time that it's not the same as at home, then, yes, you will have a shitty time. I am unsurprised that your toddler "isn't the type to play with pots and pans" (aka, is inflexible and high-maintenance), because you seem to be pretty much that way yourself. |
Anonymous
| You are flying anyway, why not meet your parents at a better place (resort, beach?) |
Anonymous
Do this for the trains!!! It's incredibly useful-- we've done it for several trips!  . https://play-trains.com/pencil-box-portable-train-set/
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Anonymous
| If you have never been there, you have no idea how your son will act there nor how your parents will act. But I find it concerning that your 3 year old requires baby proofing, a room full of toys, and to be entertained for hours on end. It is good for a 3 year old to be able to play on their own and be creative in their play... hiding in blankets, making pillow forts, making dolls out of paper, playing with pots and pans, drawing on paper, looking at new things, baking with mom/grandma, etc. You said they're in the mountains, can you find a place he can hike/climb/explore? |
Anonymous
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Can you manage to stay 3 days with them and then stay in nearby hotel with a pool the rest of the time?
My parents don't childproof either and there's simply not room for all of us + my siblings' families but my parents like hosting, so we get hosted for 48-72 hours then check into a hotel for the rest of the visit. It's an easy story to tell - kids need their own bed, do better with a pool, etc. |
Anonymous
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I don't get your negativity. You assume it will suck, but you've never even been. A three-year-old (who is NOT a toddler) doesn't need all that much childproofing anyways.
We went to visit my parents when they were renting a house in one of those 55+ towns in Arizona. There was actually a lot for the kids to do--the pools had kid/family hours every day, there were parks, the local fire station loaned out and installed car seats--basically, lots of amenities for visiting grandchildren. The rec center even ran spring break swim camps. There was a children's museum and zoo not too far away. There were lots of easy hiking trails. We brought a few toys and books, my parents bought a bunch of coloring books and paper and crayons. My daughter was thrilled to help Grandma bake cookies and help Grandpa take the dog for walks. She had a fantastic time and talks about it all the time. |
Anonymous
You need to actually find out what is there that's kid-friendly. Some retirement communities do have stuff for kids, because they know that grandkids will be visiting. |
Anonymous
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We've taken our twins regularly to see both my parents and my MIL. You are lamenting that they aren't wrapping up your week with them in a pretty package with a bow. But, you're the parent. Act like it. Get on the computer and do a little research. I have managed to find age-appropriate things to do near my MIL for every visit. I usually compile a list longer than we need and every day my children and I talk about what to do. Sometimes we coordinate with family who want to come along, but the kids and I usually make the plans.
Look for any of the following nearby: Playgrounds, especially big ones with fancy structures Zoos Aquariums Children's museums McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A's with indoor playrooms (good for when the weather is too hot, too cold, rainy, etc) Trains, subways, light rails (if we don't use the public transit to get to some attraction, we often schedule one day just to ride the trains around and come back, my 5 yo twins have loved this for at least 3 years) Fruit picking farms Local attractions like a water park or even a fountain. We went to dinner once where there was a fountain and the kids had a blast playing in the fountain after dinner. Beach It's amazing what you can find with Google nowadays. I usually start with "City, State kid friendly attractions" and go from there. A couple of nights and I usually have more ideas than we need. As for toys, we've done the ideas already mentioned: The kids each get a kid-sized roller bag and they stock up what they want to entertain them. They each pack their animals and legos/duplos if they want them. They pack particular toy cars they want. I make sure that the roller bags that they have are ones that will fit under the seat in front of them, so that they don't need overhead space for the bag. I also pack craft supplies (markers, crayons, stickers) in my bag. Then a stack of paper from your parents printer or even stop by a dollar store and pick up some construction paper and he should be okay. Also, the best kids distraction, especially on planes, is masking tape. I go to Michael's and pick up 4-5 colors of masking tape and give pieces to the kids on the plane. They can stick to the tray tables, to the window, seats. We look for pictures in the SkyMall magazine and tear them out and make collages or they tape them up on the windows and tray tables. I make origami with the pages and they tape them up. They will take paper scraps from the magazine and tape them to make planes/cars/toys. When done, I take a bag and toss it all in for the flight attendants last pass for trash. If I don't have a bag, I take an air sickness bag to clean it all up. When we get to destinations, my kids can do the same things there including at my MIL's house. Masking tape and painter's tape clean up easily and don't leave residue, so it's all pretty child safe. We have rented boxes of toys, back when we still needed to rent cribs or strollers. Now we don't bother because the rental places mostly stock toys for toddlers and not for preschoolers. We have purchased several things on Amazon to ship to my parents house before we get there. And then we go to UPS and ship a box home. We have stopped by Walmart or the dollar store on the way from the airport to my parents house and they get to pick out a bunch of inexpensive things to play with that week. Then much of that can be tossed when we leave. |
Anonymous
So you have to pay for checked baggage toys, buy toys, and rent a car to drive how far from an airport? What do they do out there? Garden? Is it one of those areas that is expensive to fly to or you need the crappy little united jets or turbo rpops? |
Anonymous
God help you in that case! |
Anonymous
| np: My parents have 5 grandchildren all flying distance away, but they were only willing to buy a used Pack N Play for $10 and when it broke, that was it, they were done, wouldn't buy any other child stuff. They won't set foot in a children's museum, even though their town has a nice one (I've been with my kids), and my dad says things like "please leave the room so I can watch this movie I rented" when we come once a year. When visiting me, my dad gets jealous if my mom pays attention to my kids. He recently mentioned a trip they took when my brother and I were 5 and 6. They dropped us off with a neighbor and flew to Disneyworld! They never took us to Disneyworld. You might wonder why he brought this up. I think it's to show me that as always, he comes first. |
Anonymous
Ahhh....get up feed the kid, when the grandparents get up go take a nap....repeat all day! He will be fine. He is a lot bigger now and will be curious and interact with others. |
Anonymous
Other than her entire relationship with them. Her parents. People she knows quite well. People you don't know at all. (And why are you shouting? Does this hit home for you? Have you been accused of sitting on the couch all day not helping?) |