Each week in our All About series, we introduce our subject on Tuesday, feature a firstperson essay on Wednesday and open up the pages to our readers on Thursday. This week, we looked at family road trips. Here are some of your thoughts.

My childhood is packed with memories of driving to Florida with my parents and four siblings. Back then, we'd squeeze into the station wagon, luggage roped atop, with books, games and music to keep ourselves amused. Perhaps it's because of my fond memories of sitting in the backseat of the wagon that I've continued the tradition of driving to Florida with my husband and three boys, now aged three, five and six.

This past spring, we drove there for the third time in three years. When we tell our friends and neighbours that we're driving south, their response is typically an incredulous: "You're driving? With three kids?

How do you do it?" Well, it's really not that hard, thanks in part to electronic gadgets, rooftop carriers and MapQuest. Over the years, my husband and I have learned a thing or two about how to survive a lengthy car ride with young kids -- without losing our marbles.

- Electronic gadgets -- Throw your nostalgia for the good ol' days aside and purchase a portable DVD player (hand-held electronic games, such as the Leapster, are also a worthy addition to the car entertainment arsenal). Face it -- if a grown-up needs to watch a full-length feature film during a three-hour flight, shouldn't some antsy kids be allowed to watch a few SpongeBob flicks over a 22- hour drive?
- If ever there's a time to break healthy eating rules, it's now.

Carrots and rice crackers just won't suffice. I hate buying junk food, but nothing stops a chorus of backseat whiners like a pack of Dunkaroos.
- A good throw -- the immobility of children fastened into car seats requires an accurate toss to ensure that a granola bar (I don't only buy junk food!

) lands on their lap, not in the no-man's land between the front and back seat of a minivan.
- Hit the road before the sun rises -- not because the kids will sleep for the first four hours (they won't) -- but so that you can squeeze in as much of the drive as possible during the first day, and more importantly, before they start asking, "Are we there yet?"
- Expect the unexpected.

During our first road trip to Florida, we discovered our three-year-old had car sickness. Between Pennsylvania and Georgia, he'd vomited six times ( sans barf bag). A poor sense of smell comes in handy, too.

- Keep on driving -- don't "spoil" them with a plane ticket. Our kids have grown so accustomed to long road trips that they barely require our attention anymore. And, as long as they stay naively unaware of the convenience and comfort of an airplane, we don't have to answer the question: "Why can't we just fly there?

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Danielle Leonard, Oakville, Ont.
I've been taking five of my six children on family road trips for the past few years now. The first year I headed out, they were aged one, four, four, seven and eight.

We went to Ste. Anne de Portneuf, the following year to Gaspe and last year we went to Newfoundland. We drive packed in our minivan, loaded with all our camping equipment.

We don't bring DVD players or any electronic games at all. My children are homeschooled and are used to entertaining themselves and each other. They don't cry, whine or complain when we drive.

Sometimes they fight, but not often and not for long. It's not unusual for us to drive for long stretches in silence except for the music. We talk a lot but I don't have to think up endless games to keep them amused.

This summer, we are planning a road trip to the Grand Canyon that will take us through 14 states.

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