Parenting

Making Car Rides Easier for Me AND My Babe

Because we all need easier these days.

By Justina  2/18/22

Let’s face it. The real, hard truth. PLANNING IS EVERYTHING once you have a little one running around. Meal times, nap times, bath times, family time, reading time, alone time, your own private bathroom time, and the subject of today’s blog: our time in the car. Before children, going anywhere was easy-breezy like a Cover Girl commercial. We had no clue how good we had it until we had our 17 month-old daughter, Magnolia. Now, while it’s definitely more work getting out of the house, we’ve learned that road trips, be they short or long, can be just as good with some well-thought out planning. 

Magnolia is addicted to books right now. Even if she’s reading them upside down! I am so grateful that we’re cultivating a love of reading in our bookworm. Books make even a trip to the grocery store more peaceful now that we’ve learned that she will keep herself entertained if given an engaging, colorful book that is just right for her. The books we have from Hullabaloo are just that: captivating, beautiful, and (bonus!) almost always educational. They've been excellent tools to help combat a challenging Hulking-out car seat situation. We stash them in the pocket behind the driver’s seat, one in the diaper bag for when she’s riding in the cart, and obviously there’s a few floating around on the floorboards! Most of the books have come in our Club Hullabaloo subscription box and it’s great to have new options coming in every month so we can change them out once a week to keep Mag’s interest piqued.


Here are my top 3 books (all board books appropriate for Magnolia’s development level) for keeping her engaged, entertained, and cooperative while we’re on the go! 

Rainbow Colors by Juliana Perdomo 

This precious deluxe board book teaches the colors of the rainbow and the colors of real life, promoting diversity with the children of the world pictured at the end. The curved pages will definitely keep your baby’s focus. Bring this book out again and again but it will also provide a great teaching opportunity when the April showers come! I am all about book purchases that can teach many lessons.

Bookscape Board Books: Christmas Cheer illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius 

This book is petite, perfect for little hands with unique shaped pages that progressively tell about the joys of Christmas. This book came in our December Club box and we are still just as enamored with it! It is currently on sale and will have you feeling the Christmas spirit year round! (As we all should, in my opinion!)

Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer 

Magnolia was only four months old when we received this book and her love for it at 17 months is still going strong. It breaks down what kindness is on a child’s level so they can understand not only what it is, but how it can be demonstrated. This book is a foundational, character building asset to have in your library. The illustrations are so detailed and inclusive! We also own the the companion book Love Makes a Family and love the bright colors and simple message of equity and inclusion.

I had no intention of pointing you specifically to the subscription boxes when I set out to share my personal car trip experiences. Then I realized that is where most of our absolute favorite books have come from! These books have been meticulously curated by Hollis and Blaine who both have children. The books they choose are books they themselves have read to their own kids so you know they have got to be fabulous! I can attest, you and your tribe will have the best road trips with Hullabaloo Book Company in tow!