A while back, Alex did a great job outlining the 13 RV supplies you must have when you go full time RVing.

Although that was an extremely inclusive list, there are certain RV accessories that a Mom RVing full time absolutely needs to make sure that the inside of the home runs as smoothly as the outside.

The iPad (here being used by Eli) is just one of the RV accessories a full time RV Mom cannot live without...

And all the kids get home schooled properly as well.

Although these may not be “traditional” RV supplies or accessories, like sewer pipes and stabilizers…they are absolute “must haves” when going RVing for any period of time or if you take the plunge and go full time RVing like we have for the past year:

1.  The Kindle

The first RV accessory you must have is the one that both saves you an enormous amount of space while actually helping your kids learn. A two for one as it were is Amazon’s Kindle.

On our first fulltime Rving venture. I packed four (4) HUGE plastic storage boxes of books…homeschooling books, reference books, favorite books, rving books…..these boxes took up 75% of the RV’s storage space!

Best of all, you can even borrow books on the Kindle at no charge!! Check out that feature here.

You see, I was totally against the concept of my children reading electronically.  I wanted them to read real books.  Well I was wrong!!
We were just lugging around too much stuff and when we got the kindle we realized four extremely helpful features for those full time Rving families:

• Enlarging Fonts: The Kindle (and with other electronic readers) you can increase the font size which was very important to assist one of my children in reading more fluently.

• Multiple Readers: If you purchase one book (at least from the Amazon Kindle store) every member of your family can read the same book on all your Kindles and iPads at the same time!

• Electronic Dictionary: Yes we make the kids look up all the words they dont know and this feature really makes it fun to do that and it doesn’t interrupt the flow of a good book.

• Text to Speech: (soooo cool!) This is truly helpful for reading in the back while the parents are driving,  pronunciation and also for tired eyes!

Note to all future full time Rvers…save your back, open up your storage space, help your kids out and save some money….buy a Kindle and although there are multiple kinds and versions…..the Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display only costs $79 at its least expensive of all of them.

If you must have the color while reading then buy a Kindle Fire or even an iPad ( see below).

Don’t forget to get the Kindle Light and the Kindle Power Adapter too. We really like the Kindle Cover with Book Light best of all.

2.  The iPad

Nothing  beats the Apple iPad.

Although we love the Kindle, the iPad is an essential tool when RVing. We have found it to be so useful for so many different tasks, including:

• Emailing work and friends – quick emails are easy on the iPad
  

• Facebook – check in on Facebook in a second or two…but not too much time there!
  

• Doing Quick Internet research – Google searches are a breeze
  

• Blogging – blogging and writing posts are simple to do on an iPad
  

• Thousands of Cool Apps – and hundreds you can use to assist in homeschooling

• Reading Books – backlighting makes it easy to read at night and so portable! ‘Nuff said!
  

• Working – when on the road when one of us is driving or with the kids, the other can be working away on the iPad

• And tons more cool stuff….

I love to read on my iPad in bed late night or early morning when everyone is asleep. One of the coolest things about reading on the iPad is I dont need to turn on a light and wake everyone up. That’s because the screen is backlit — but NOT harsh on your eyes at all. I also love to read on the iPad in those rare times when the RV is completely silent!

Also we have never let our boys have ANY electronic video games, no Nintendo, no Wii, no Xbox etc…

So the only video games they are allowed to play are apps on our iPads, kind of old school, but it works for us. This rv accessory especially comes in handy when we need a reward for an above and beyond task accomplished or on those super loooong days on the road driving through endless plains or cornfields.

And you don’t have to get the spiffy new iPad 3, the original Apple iPad (first generation) you can still get on Amazon for nearly half the price and they’re just as good.

We have both an iPad 1 one and an iPad 2 and although the Apple iPad 2 has a few more features, the original iPad suits our needs just fine.

However, if you are hell bent on getting the best and newest, then go for it on the Apple iPad 3. The screen resolution is really unbelievable and all the extra features are very cool.

When you get one, don’t forget to get a good iPad cover, especially if you get the older iPads, because they don’t come with a case.

3. Audible.com

Audible.comhas been a lifesaver!

I recommend you get your first 3 Months at Audible for $7.49/month and purchasing some downloadable audiotapes for the long rides ahead…we  love the Joy Hakim Series called A History of The US.  Joy Hakim  makes history come alive.

Other favorites are:

• David McCullough’s books are some of our favorites…and more classic books than you could ever possibly listen to in fifteen cross country trips!

• How to Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie – why isn’t this taught in school? As this classic book states, 85% of your succcess in life depends on how you interact with other people. In our case, we still have a few things to learn here. One of the best books on a subject that ever roadschooler (or traditional schooler) should read!

4.  The Trusty GPS

We’d be LOST without our trusty GPS while RVing full time…need I say more?

We highly recommend the Garmin nüvi 2455LMT as it is easy to program, has traffic monitoring in it and has multiple voices to keep the kids entertained.

We have our guide is an Australian and we call him “Brett”…for absolutely no apparent reason.

The kids and we always crack up when we miss a turn and Brett gets obviously upset and blurts in his mechanical Australian accent “recalculating”…endless hours of fun.

Most importantly, Brett gets us to where we want to go. And when you’re hauling a 6 ton behemoth fifth wheel, you don’t want to take the wrong exit or get lost…that could spell disaster.

The Garmin nüvi 2455LMT GPS has been a lifesaver for us.

5. Netflix

Netflix is a mom’s best friend for those nights when you just want to watch a chick flick and all the guys are watching sports or war movies!
You can get it on the iPad, which makes it a “movie for one”…a great escape for the full time RV mom.

Plus, the Netflix subscription is really cheap and you can get it for less than $10 per month when you click here.

Totally worth it!

Just think of all the space you save by not lugging all your DVDs on the road with you. That unto itself is worth the $10 a month!

6.   Mattress Foam Pads

Although, the foam mattress cover is not an electronic device like some the other RV accessories listed above, this is an absolute MUST for saving your back in the not so comfy RV mattresses.

You can certainly opt for upgrading this RV accessory and replace the mattress with one like the Sleep Number Bed for an RV, but the cheapest and easiest solution is to just get a mattress cover. Although we are mattress snobs, to a certain extent, this really works just fine and best f all is one tenth of the cost of a new mattress.

Of all the RV accessories we recommend this one is especially important for MOMs!  Since we have a full sized mattress, I like the Perfect Harmony Mattress Topper – Full, but if you have a Queen bed, go for the Perfect Harmony Mattress Topper – Queen.

And a must have considering your mattress sits on a plywood board in most RVs!

Where To Buy RV Accessories That Mom’s Need Most

When you’re shopping for RV accessories, Camping World has a great selection of these as well as has tons of other small RV accessories (links provided here). They are a trustworthy and reputable vendor to find many of your RV accessories.

We have long recommended Amazon.com (links provided here as well) as their customers service is amazing, returns are easy and the vendors they deal with pass a rigorous testing to be qualified to sell on Amazon. With either store, you can’t go wrong.

Both Camping World and Amazon.com ship out your RV accessories quickly and the customer service is top notch. We have even ordered supplies in advance, gave a forwarding shipping address of our next RV stop and then picked up the RV accessories when we got there.

How cool is that!

So that is the top 6 RV accessories a Mom must have (and for the Dads out there, seriously consider these as well to keep the wife happy ), although for you Dads, please refer to Alex’s post on RV supplies for more of the outdoor “manly” RV supplies that you must have.

Please SHARE this post with your friends on Facebook as there are so many people who are looking to both RV full time as well as just go RVing who would really benefit from these RV accessories that every RVer must have….especially Mom!

“Inside” (Eli)

"Inside" playing inside...

and “Outside” ( Alex)

"Outside" playing outside

Like most siblings, our boys are very different from each other. Alex is 10 and his first real word was “OUTSIDE!” Which he always said with great emphasis (aka… shouting it as loudly as possible), while standing by the door at 5 am, just minutes after waking up and gobbling down a bowl of cereal.

Our neighbors (hi Coach Tim!) would drive by early in the morning each day on their way to work or the gym and see me playing soccer, deck hockey or baseball with our very energetic toddler.

He hasn’t changed much since those days. Alex still is happiest outside running, fishing, biking playing sports or army and typically likes company while doing these activities.

Eli, on the other hand, typically prefers to be inside, playing legos or building something complex,talking to himself, creating own stories or perhaps drawing extensive detailed pictures. He likes to be in the same room with me or his father – as long as we do our own thing and do not disturb him until he is done.

When Eli was a toddler and Alex would try to drag me outside, Eli would be designing intricate play-doh creations and he would beg me to stay inside….but not let me touch any of his play-doh.

He is a kind boy, so he would start out with giving me a lump of play-doh…however whenever I would make something, he would inevitably look at it, shake his head, give me a little somewhat knowing smile and take back the play-doh and add it on to one of his creations.

He preferred that I just  sit there and admire his creations.

And yet in spite of these differences, these two brothers, “Inside” and “Outside” as we fondly call them, have always gotten along quite well.

Ralph and I are at a loss as to the reason why and yet their mostly harmonious relationship is a major reason why our family can go Rving full time this year.

Thus far, Inside and Outside are getting along really well (knock on wood now!!) on this full time RV road trip. And it’s heartwarming to see them laugh and have fun together…as well as collaboratively conspire charming and inventive ways to get a treat or candy!

We’ve found that for us adults, living the full time RV life style is very relaxing and quite fun. However from a child’s point of view, this very same RVing full time lifestyle and its accompanying “let’s see it all” rush to every landmark you pass through, can be a very tiring thing.

We noticed this pace was starting to tire the kids and we realize that this is because what we have done up until this point is live an “adults life” at an “adult pace”.

And when you’re RVing full time with kids, you just can’t do it this way.

Of course some adults just take their chillaxin time whenever and where ever they can. Its not so easy for kids though. Especially kids with parents like us.

While in Pittsburgh though, we realized the age old lesson that the kids NEED TO PLAY!!! They need free time to be themselves, play with their toys, have downtime and play with other kids at the campground.

We realized that this play time is essential to a positive home life for them, as well as it is to being healthy. Kids miss their friends, their home, their toys and when you’re on the road in an RV full time, we parents need to realize this and adjust our routine to include some normal everyday activities including playtime,  inside (with toys, Pokemon and baseball cards) and outside on the playground swing set or jumpy pillow to play with new friends.  We also need to schedule in more plain old family time with regular dinner (RV style of course)  and a movie at night instead of trying perhaps trying to make the most of  a museums “open to 8 pm” night.

The kids and me with Nonnie and Bump in Pittsburgh

So we realized that we are going too fast, trying to do to much and needed to slow it down. So we did.

So after our frenetic first two weeks, this past Wednesday, we did exactly that. We slowed it down, pared down the schedule, added in fishing, jumpy pillow time with all the KOA campground kids and precious Lego time and cartoons.

Uncle Bob would be proud to know that we let them watch The 3 Stooges!!

I meanwhile, took the much vaunted Carnegie Science Center and Museum Natural History ( ouch!!…) out of the schedule. It is summer after all…we haven’t even started any road schooling, other than reading or the occasional everyday family math lessons, so I figured I was OK there.

As a result of this slight alteration in our schedule, “Inside” and “Outside” are now happy and relaxed…

"Outside" fishing

"Inside" lego-ing

I meanwhile, am biding my time (or is that chomping at the bit?) until the next “not to be missed” museum (Henry Ford Museum… here we come!), historical site or President’s House.

So when you are on the road in an RV full time, see the sites, for sure.

But don’t forget to schedule in the “chillaxin’ time”, especially if you’re with kids.

After all, the museums and “not to be missed” sites will always be there…but your kids will not always be kids, so give ’em time to be just that.

President’s Corner

Ohio’s nickname is “The Mother of Presidents” since so many Presidents were born in Ohio..

And the question of the day (do not Google it!!) is:

How many Presidents were born in Ohio?

And a bonus question: With which state does Ohio compete for this Mother of Presidents Title?

Post a response below for the first to answer this weeks “President’s Corner”.