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Last summer I had the pleasure of appearing as a featured "expert" at the PBS Parents website to talk about keeping kids entertained on the road. This week I have been invited back!

We are discussing ways to save money when traveling with your kids on the road, and creative ways to keep the kids entertained in the car without emptying your wallet.

Please click over and join in the Q & A discussion!

update: link has been updated to reflect archived story

Hit the Road without Hurting your Pocketbook

Don't let your tightened budget put a crimp in your fun. There are many ways to save money, even on a road trip to help cut the costs. I've put together an article with lots of useful ideas to get you started on the following topics:

• Plan Ahead for Meals and Snacks
• Plan Free Entertainment for the Kids for the Road
• Adopt Good Driving Habits that Save Gas
• Call Ahead for Overnights On The Road
• Plan Your Route
• Save Money At Your Home While You are Away

It can be found on my website at http://www.momsminivan.com/savemoney.html

Hit the road, have fun and be safe!

Turkey Defense

Here's my dad in 1981 with "Meaty", our aptly named pet turkey. Meaty was quite the barnyard showpiece. We'd raised him from a chick. And, well, kids do dumb things, and I was no exception. I teased him a lot when his voice began changing from a cheep to a gobble. I gobbled loudly at him constantly to make him gobbly-cheep back. It was hilarious at the time. As a result, he grew to dislike me intensely.

I have no idea what was going on inside his bird brain, but as a fully grown turkey, he would sneak up on me at every opportunity to attack. It was only me that he disliked. Everyone else could pet him on his bumpy red head and play with his weird warm waddle affectionately. Not me. He would pick me out of a crowd of people, flapping his wings like baseball bats against my thigh and driving his 2-inch talons into my calves. One day in my self defense, I waved a horse's lead rope and halter in his direction to fend him off, and accidentally knocked him on the head with the metal buckle. He flopped to the ground completely unconscious. I thought I'd killed him.

I panicked and tried to think of what I would tell my mother about the beloved family pet. I stroked his knobby head and told him how sorry I was. I said a prayer to please undo this mistake. My prayer was answered. About 60 seconds later he opened his eyes and hopped up, seemingly good as new. What great relief. Meaty and I pretty much avoided each other after that, managing to co-exist somewhat peacefully in the barnyard. ... until he met his untimely demise a couple of years later at the jaws of a hungry coyote.


It seems I am not the only one who has ever fought with a turkey. Recently, a friend sent me a hilarious turkey-wrestling video ad for a JennieO Oven Ready Turkey. I could totally relate. The moment the woman in the video sent her unruly turkey soaring out of her kitchen window and into the back of her husband's head, I knew I needed one of these birds. Given my special affinity for turkey wrestling, I was hooked. So, this past Sunday night I cooked the "Oven Ready Boneless Turkey Breast" from their product line, or as my family called it, "turkey boob in a bag".

I literally took it out of the freezer and put into my oven already in its cooking bag. No thawing, no seasoning, no preparing, nothing. I didn't have to do a thing or even touch the raw turkey. It seemed too good to be true. I kept re-reading the instructions for the catch. I even started to dig around in the kitchen drawers looking for my meat thermometer, until I realized it already had one of those nifty pop up things. This was one of the easiest dinners I have ever made.

All three kids gave it a thumbs up, and ditto for the gravy that came with it. Delicious. And no one was hit in the head by a giant flopping bird. …Or stabbed in the leg by a spit-angry flapping one. If only I could have gotten along as well with ol' Meaty.

Stretch Your Road Dollar

I've been groaning along with the rest of my readers over recent gas prices. But in a press release I received today, things got a little clearer. There is no need to let the pump prices become a fun-sucking black hole in your summer plans! Here is an excerpt:

Everyone seems to be complaining about the high cost of fuel causing them to cancel their summer vacation plans. Carol White, co-author of the book Living Your Road Trip Dream, says, “I don’t like the higher prices, but if you take a realistic look at it, it’s something that most of us can deal with.”

Did you cancel last year’s plans? According to AAA, gas prices have increased an average of $.56 a gallon since this time last year. Let’s go crazy and say it has been $.75 a gallon in your area. If your summer trip is 1000 miles long and your car gets an average of 23 MPG, your fuel will cost $32.60 more this year than last. One dinner at home instead of eating out before you go will save that much. Is $32 any reason to cancel your vacation?

Carol White is the co-author of the award-winning book, “Live Your Road Trip Dream” – the ultimate road trip planning guide for extended road trips.

Thanks for putting it into perspective. It may be a big increase in the price per gallon lately, but when you figure out how many gallons you are actually going to use, it's not that big an increase in your overall travel budget. Just cut back a little somewhere else to make the ends meet. If you need help doing that, then check out all the ways you can save money on the road in my article "Stretch Your Dollar on the Road."

Dear RoadTripMom: Back Seat Bickering

QUESTION: What's your favorite tactic for dealing with kids who start bickering in the back seat?

ANSWER:
Generally, the thing I recommend the most is to just change the activity. Make some suggestions to the kids from the ideas that you have hopefully prepared before the trip! More specifically though, my favorite tactic when nothing else seems to end the bickering is to put on some new music and start singing loudly! .....Very loudly!

The kids will either start singing along with me, or they will unite with each other to try to make the parents STOP singing! Either way, the bickering is over. It definitely helps to have a sense of humor about it. Sometimes I have even used it as a (humorous) consequence. For example, "You kids need to start another activity instead of bickering, or else I will be forced to start singing!" It works every time.

Advice: Flat Tire Fun (Not!)

Some good advice I got from my father once -- Be familiar with your spare before you hit the road! (ok, I got it more than once -- I get it every time I got a new vehicle.)

Imagine being at the side of the road on a busy Interstate highway with a flat tire.... ...alone.... in the dark.

I found myself in this situation recently. I was alone and about 50 miles from home in the countryside on a dark interstate highway on a short 200 mile road trip. It was 7 pm in January so it was pitch dark and very cold. My tire went flat. I pulled off the road as far as I possibly could. Changing a tire by the side of the road is very dangerous and very scary. But I knew what to do. Do you? Read more Flat Tire help for some great advice so you don't get stuck!

Advice: Back Seat Couch Potatoes?

Dear Road Trip Mom:
What is your viewpoint on electronics as a diversion?

So many parents pacify their kids these days with car-installed, or portable DVD players and/or handheld video games. Could kids be making better use of their time, or do you believe such devices have earned a place in roadtrip entertainment?



Answer:
I do think these devices have a place in roadtrip entertainment, but mostly as a break from other activities.

You just can't expect children to be actively engaged and play games for hours upon hours. At some point, they just want to take a break and rest. This is when a DVD player is appropriate in my opinion. Kick back and watch a movie, then everyone will be refreshed ready to be involved again.

A family car trip is one of the best opportunities parents have to spend a lot of time really talking with their children, and it's an opportunity that shouldn't be wasted. One of my website readers once wrote to me and said, "The trip there is half the fun because our vacation starts the minute we get in the car."