Charlie, me, Doug, and Tim racing NASCAR Go-Karts at 76 Golf World in Stuart, Florida, Feb. 24, 2007

By Wendy Perrin

To the millions who dismiss the blogosphere as a snarky place, may I present evidence to the contrary?  Willy Volk over at Gadling could hardly be nicer. Remember my post last week about Surviving Road Trips With Children, where I shared Gadling's tips for keeping tykes occupied in cars with the caveat that the tips don't work for my kids?  First Willy wrote in to apologize that his tips weren't usable. (Actually, I hadn't meant to imply that his tips were bad; I'd meant to imply that my kids are bad . . . although my husband keeps telling me that boys will be boys and I just need to chill out.)

Willy said he'd look out for tips more applicable to my life. How nice is that?!  Then yesterday, bingo!  He posts 21 (+3) Tips For Getting Kids Excited About Travel. This GREAT collection of games and activities can be found at the family travel site WeJustGotBack.com. I particularly like the Answer Those Niggling Mysteries section. Once Charlie (who is almost 5) learns How Interstate Highways Are Numbered, he'll be content for hours in the back seat obsessing over the road map. Doug (who just turned 3) is still a little young for How Airplanes Fly, but maybe by next summer . . . .

Speaking of WeJustGotBack.com, its editor Suzanne Rowan Kelleher also wrote in. She sympathized about the trials I encountered on my recent cruise with kiddies (trials highlighted yesterday in USA Today's The Cruise Log by Gene Sloan). Suzanne pointed me toward a very helpful article, Kid-Friendly Cruises: An Age-By-Age Guide To Cruising, adding,

"At WeJustGotBack.com we actually recommend waiting until kids are at least 3 -- or, even better, kindergarten. This article was one in a series for which we interviewed dozens and dozens of readers who'd cruised with small kids. All sorts of downsides emerged--the no-swim-diapers policy in the pools was just the beginning. Parents cited the ultra-tight cabins, the loooong corridors (meaning toddlers spend their time in the stroller), waiting in lines to do just about everything, the lack of flexible babysitting (group babysitting that BEGINS at 10pm? Sounds like heaven, eh?), and on and on. One mother of 2-year-old twins described her cruise as 'being in Hell.'"

Thank you, Willy, Suzanne, and Gene, for being so helpful and taking some of the snark (is that a word?) out of the blogosphere.