'My son screamed for the last 4 hours': Parents share the worst travel strategies they've tried while traveling with kids

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Apr 10, 2024 4:00 PM EDT

Traveling with kids can't be easy. I like to think that I was a pretty easy kid to handle overall, but I remember one particularly horrible car ride that my parents will never forget. I believe we were driving from Wisconsin back to Illinois, and the sun was in my eyes the entire ride. Instead of asking for sunglasses or just closing my eyes, I decided to scream, "My eyes! My eyes! My beautiful eyes!" for at least a couple of hours. I know for a fact that I got the phrase "My eyes!" from a Spongebob episode, and I similarly know that I drove my entire family crazy because of my dramatic display.

My parents couldn't do much to change the way the sun was shining on that fateful day, but other parents have made a lot of interesting travel choices to avoid meltdowns from their toddlers. Some are more successful than others.