IMG_8973

When it comes to family travel, whether you are flying to Grandma’s house or your fancy pants vacation resort, you gotta have a foolproof method to keep your kids occupied for the entire trip. It’s either that or knock them out with drugs.

What happens when your kids aren’t occupied (or drugged)?

Meltdowns, discomfort, boredom, hunger, unnecessary requests to go to the bathroom, “are we there yet?” and “how much loooooooonger?” inquiries, moaning and groaning, infighting between siblings, back of the seat kicking, etc. etc. etc.

It can get BAD. If you’re on a plane, you can’t even pull over to give yourself a break. Not to mention— EVERYONE IS WATCHING.

Well, as the mom of a five-year-old, I am here to tell you that once your kids reach a certain age, all these problems miraculously disappear. They even carry their own luggage.

IMG_8977

I know it’s not popular to tell a story about when everything works out JUST FINE, with no tension to hold anyone’s interest or heartfelt pleas to gain sympathy, but we traveled to Utah on Tuesday with Mazzy and it couldn’t have gone any smoother.

Can’t you just pee in your pants or scream “I’m bored!!!!” loud enough for the people on the ground to hear you so I have something to write about?

But no. Mazzy was excited to go on the plane. She was more excited about flying then the vacation itself. She was glued to the window before take-off, clapped when the plane reached the clouds, told me when she had to go to the bathroom, got excited about the free snacks and played quietly on her iPad for the entire trip.

IMG_8745

(FYI- we left Harlow at home with Grammy, no matter what @insta2yearold tells you.)

Of course, I can’t let Mazzy take all the credit. I was FULLY PREPARED. Before the trip, I loaded up the iPad with new games and movies, made sure it was fully charged, took along a pair of headphones and packed my myCharge Hub 6000 just in case anybody ran out of battery.

IMG_8893

The myCharge Hub is key, by the way, because if you are grounded before the flight even takes off, knowing you have a back-up charger is one less reason to panic. Plus, if you are traveling with multiple devices— like Mazzy’s iPad, my phone, Mike’s iPad, Mike’s phone, etc. you need a substantial back-up source. I’ve actually become quite attached to my Hub and won’t travel without it. I took it to San Francisco a few weeks ago, left it in the car from the airport by accident and did everything possible to get a new one before our Utah trip. I love the Hub because it attaches directly to your device (or an outlet) with no wires necessary. It also actually charges your phone (and then you can remove it) as opposed to acting as another battery source you must leave attached.

IMG_9049

So there I was, on the plane, with Mazzy happy and occupied and I realized— I get to do whatever I want to do too! Read books, flip through US Weekly, take a nap, create a business plan, watch the inflight movie, linger over coffee— THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER when your kid is belted in and totally entertained with a fully charged device!

IMG_8895

AND— there is no guilt or shame in unlimited iPad time when you are in the air. I bet you even have people tell you what a wonderful mother you are once the plane lands.

“I didn’t hear a peep from her— she was so content the whole time! You must be a wonderful parent!”

SOAK THAT PRAISE UP.

When we landed, the iPads were still charged but my phone was in the red. That’s what playing with photo editing apps for 4 hours can do to you. I attached my Hub and was able to use my phone for the :45 minute car ride to the hotel. We even face-timed with Harlow. (Don’t feel bad for Harlow. She is stoked to get one-on-one time with Grammy.) When we got to the hotel, we put our stuff down and immediately went out to dinner. By that time, my phone was fully charged without ever locating an outlet in the hotel room.

Do you want to be the expert travel mom who gets compliments on her parenting skills on the plane?

If so, it’s your lucky day because I am giving away 5 myCharge Hubs!

One grand prize winner will get a myCharge Hub 6000 + an $100 Visa gift card and four runner-ups will receive a myCharge Hub 6000 + a $50 gift card.

mycharge-giveaway

Giveaway rules:

1) You must be subscribed to the myCharge newsletter to enter. If you are not already subscribed, you can do so here.

Fill out my online form.

2) Then leave a comment below telling me about the time you or your kid ran out of battery power when you most needed it.

MyCharge is “the ultimate in portable power solutions” and has many options for traveling moms who wouldn’t mind taking a nap themselves when they board a plane. The myCharge Hub 6000 gets up to 27 additional hours of talk time, as well as integrated, quick-charge wall prongs, built-in cables and connectors for smartphones, tablets, e-readers or whatever device your little rugrat is toting around on your trip.

my-charge-hub-6000-480x235

Winner will be announced on April 10th. If you have any travel booked that requires a myCharge RIGHT NOW, you can buy one here.

Good luck and happy traveling!

WINNERS UPDATE:

And the Grand Prize winner is… Shannon who couldn’t get in touch with her teammates when her ran out during a Breast Cancer walk.

The four runner-ups are… Evan who depends on the PBS app on long car rides with her son, Suzi who needs a fully charged iPad to keep her kids entertained in the waiting room of her son’s therapy, Meredith Kennedy who depends on her phone to keep her company while pumping at work and Chelsea who ran out of an iPad battery on a very unfortunate library visit with her 20 month-old son.

Congrats all! Please contact abby@mommyshorts.com to claim your prizes.

——————————

This post was sponsored by myCharge, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.