4 Corners Quest - Day 16: Lessons Learned, Part Last

The 3rd of 3 installments of road trip wisdom, if the below said can be considered such:

Sunscreen:

Put on enough to prevent blisters, and then chill out. American children spend 47 minutes a day putting on sunscreen, more than they spend bathing, brushing their teeth, combing their hair, and all other chores combined. Surely a 30 minute maximum screen-application timeframe is a reasonable compromise. Besides, if they get burnt, throw them in dark room for the day while you hang out on the porch relaxing. It's about time they learn a lesson or two. 

Prioritize your Activities:

Kill them before they die. 
Less is more. 
Leave them wanting more. 
Two events are only 50% better than one event. 
Three events are 15% better than two events
Four events incur negative outcomes. 
Diminishing returns.

Your kids will enjoy the vista for 4-37 seconds, depending on their age and gender. 
They run in parks, even National ones. Let them; Teddy would approve.

Parental Expectations:
When in crap souvenir shops, kids touch everything. What else are they supposed to do when surrounded by tchotchke? 
Leave your perfect planning eggs in the at-home basket. You have cannot control which kid will like which activity, regardless of how much you want them to do so. 
There is no correlation between money spent and intrinsic kid-joy. Actually, there is some promising University research that suggests that kids enjoy an activity in an inverse proportion to how much you paid for them to partake in it. 
There is hope in the long-term, as kids are revisionists; things that barely register to them mid-event become the stories of legend when they get home to tell their friends.

Kids wear out quicker than you (unless you are the grands; grands are ideal for taking kids on road trips, as they both need naps); build in down times, even down days. It is *not* a waste to take a breather; it is a waste to force another event/stop/activity when everyone would rather just swim. 

Et cetera: 

You're an adult, making a series of rational decisions, who will find yourself at wits end being surrounded by your irrational offspring. What did you expect would happen?
Don't take it personally; grab a coffee, Diet Coke, Keystone Light (w/ Lime), whatever works. Take a walk, or a run, or a nap. 

As a parent and road trip official, you are a shepherd, not a programmer. You guide, not coerce. 
Finally, and most importantly, Mom is in charge of checking all luggage before leaving; dads are incapable of successfully handling this administration. Better leave us to gas up and pack the back.