Kid-Tested Tips

In some states, a tick is just a tick. In others, it could be carrying Lyme disease. In parts of the Southwest, if you've left shoes or ball gloves outside overnight, check them for scorpions before shoving a body part inside. You can find regional reports about potential bug hazards at www.pestworld.org, courtesy of the National Pest Management Association.

Staff Writer Cindy Loose

In the Airport

To help identify your family quickly at the airport, dress everyone in either the same color or matching colors. Always keep a recent photo of your child or children in your wallet (and place a photo of yourself in your child's pocket) in case you become separated and need assistance in locating them.

Jerrod Resweber

American Airlines

In the Car

Want to drive on 1950s-era, all-but-empty interstates? Drive at night. Our routine for long road trips usually begins with an 8 p.m., after-supper departure. All is quiet in the back seat within an hour or two. We drive as long as we feel safe, usually until about 1 a.m. or so, then pull over at an interstate motel and transfer the unconscious to proper beds. The next morning, we're off on the last leg with a huge head start and a good night's sleep.

Meanwhile, books-on-tape make driving a pleasure and still allow the kids to see the country roll by. Browse your library's selection for unabridged versions of books that will bridge the age range of the traveling kids. Some suggestions: The excellent "American Girls" series are well-written and well-read tales of everyday kids' life in various eras of history; the wacky "Wayside School" books by Louis Sachar will appeal to pre-K through AARP; Mary Pope Osborne's "Magic Treehouse" stories are easy listening in short chapters, which is good when your exit is getting close.

Videos have their place, too, especially on any drive over eight hours. But the problem with having a TV permanently implanted in your car is that it tends to get turned on for every trip for milk or to school. Ugh. For the longest trips, we borrow a portable VCR monitor with a 12-volt plug. The best road movies? Super-long ones, like the never-ending "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

When the movies are over, you might have to participate in some of the 101 fun things to do in the car that you found at www.momsminivan.com. The site also has car seat safety information (studies have shown that most car seats are improperly installed) and loads of road trip tips.

Staff Writer Steve Hendrix