Traveling can be stressful for anyone, but it’s particularly challenging for parents with really young kids. The sitting still for long periods of time, the changes in schedule, the abundance of stimuli, the unexpected stomach bugs, the suddenly running out of diaper wipes…all the things that make trips triggering for toddlers and therefore chaotic for mom and dad.
And while there might not be a way to completely avoid every travel-induced aggravation (it’s all part of the journey!) there are definitely tips and tricks and tools to make it a bit smoother of a process.
For one mom, a peaceful trip always begins with a roll of painter’s tape.
“I swear to you. It’s great on the plane but also on vacation,” Nichola Knox, a Canada-based mom wrote on Instagram last month.
“It’s great on the plane but also on vacation,” she continued. “Label the kid’s cups, a bandaid for when your toddler ‘really needs one,’ taping over locks and drawers you don’t want them getting into. The list goes on. It’s forever the ‘weird’ thing I bring on trips.”
In Knox’s video you can see the tape being used in myriad ways—both practical and creative. On the plane, it’s used as a snack holder and extra cup holder, a button block, plus as various ways to keep her kid entertained—window stickers, a “bridge” for his toy car, letters for a little arts and crafts time, etc.
Then at the hotel, she created little crawling roads mapped out on the floor. Nifty.
The video received a ton of positive feedback, with views calling the idea “expert-level parenting.”
Even the official Instagram account for airline WestJet left a comment saying “Inflight entertainment that we never thought of! Very creative. ✈️.”
Meanwhile, one person added, “If I was sitting with you I would totally be participating in all the fun tape-based shenanigans! This is brilliant.”
Knox isn’t the only one on the painter’s tape bandwagon. Another mom called it a “baby proofing workhorse” in a TikTok video saying it’s great for keeping anything dangling above out of reach, as well as covering up and outlets while at hotels.
Meanwhile, another mom shared that when flying, she would board earlier than her husband and son and put a little tape over the latch to the dining tray table, since he was “going through a phase where he liked to open and close everything.”
Honestly, it does make sense that this item could be such a travel friendly tool for parents. The beauty of painter’s tape is that it usually doesn’t cause any mess or damage to the surfaces we stick it on. It’s super easy to simply peel off and go, especially when it’s only going to be used for a few hours.
And of course, parents can find plenty of ways to use painters tape at home, too. Mom blogger Kelsey Pomeroy has a few suggestions—makeshift chip clips, light blockers, lint rollers, reminders notes…just to name a few.
Sometimes the biggest parenting win is finding an easy solution that allows for more time to simply enjoy the moment. Seems like this hack is one of those wins. Happy traveling, moms and dads!
Source: https://www.upworthy.com/painters-tape-travel
