Nerdy Kids Entertain Themselves in the Car

When I was pregnant with my daughter (over nine years ago), I began to read all the parenting materials that I could find. I was 21 and terrified that I was going to ruin this precious little peanut in my belly. The more I read, the more I realized her only hope to surviving the world was to be a book lover (aka nerd).

Even while I was pregnant, I read to her. After she was born, I read to her. And starting when she was about 18 months old I started bringing a bag of entertainment in the car almost every time we went anywhere. The bag would have a couple of small toys and books, lots of books. By the time she was about 2 1/2 she even began referring  her little red bag as her "enertainmnt bag" (that was my best attempt to type it the way she pronounced it in her cute little toddler voice).

Throughout the years we always brought books everywhere we went. It was my goal for her to associate relieving the "I'm bored and need something to do" feeling with books. When my son (who recently turned 5) was about 18 months I changed things up. I started to keep a stack of books in the car all the time. This was mostly because getting a 1 and 5 year old ready to go anywhere was challenging enough with having to worry about bringing a bag of books.

Now we have upgraded to a book box that sits between them in the car and I rotate books every month or so. Yes, this does mean that we have a ton of books. No, we are not rich. Most of the books I've purchased for my little nerds were bought at thrift stores, Goodwill, and in the clearance section of Half Priced Books (they are only a $1). I've also kept many books since my daughter was very young, because I mostly buy gender neutral books (Franklin, Clifford, Curious George.... that kind of stuff). So nine years of buys books for $.25 - $1 has built up quite a collection for us, even with occasional purging for donation. 

So, all that to say, I always have books in the car. Always. And because we have to usually drive 15-25 minutes to get to stores or places we need to go, having books in the car helps make the trips smoother, and most importantly encourages spending time reading or looking at (my son is working on reading still) books.

So consider having an entertainment bag or book box in the car at all times to promote a nerdy lifestyle for your kiddos. :)

Stay nerdy, my friends.