Saige and Chase and I are taking a little road trip today to see my lovely fairy godchildren and their slightly Twisted Mother way up in Maine. This road trip will take approximately 11 hours. Huh. I didn't give that much thought until this morning. Luckily Saige and Chase are very resourceful children and gathered all they will need to keep them occupied for an eleven hour trip. Saige was so pleased with herself for not even glancing in the Teen Vogue that had come in the mail so she would have it to enjoy in the car, they've got magazines and movies out the wahzoo. They've actually got more than enough movies to make it across the country and back. Books, ITouchs, IPods, laptops, it's unbelievable.
I remember when I was a kid we would take a different eleven hour drive to Hilton Head, my parents, my three brothers, myself all in a station wagon and the only thing we would have to play with was the fast food Styrofoam trash. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to have all the gadgetry and paraphernalia of todays day and age. I am thankful though for the toys now, those long trips to South Carolina would make two of my brothers on the verge of stir crazy. There is only so long you can play the license plate game while someone else is poking you in the eye.
Of course my brother Mark and I would be angels lying in the "way back." It was all about safety those days! I don't even remember if that car had seat belts. I know it had a lighter in the back seat cause my brother Chris would threaten to burn me with it.
Anyway, long car rides caused Scott and Chris to misbehave which drove my father crazy which made it slightly uncomfortable at times. There was nothing worse than hearing, "I'm gonna have to pull this car over." I remember it vividly after one time he found out that Chris had a knife back there. We would hear that threat come from way up yonder, Mark and I would roll our eyes and wait it out. I guess I'm thankful my own children have so much to keep them busy while I chain smoke and guzzle whiskey from the bottle to keep myself entertained. I just sure hope neither of 'em is carrying a knife.
The main problem is that I'm not sure what one does as the parent were you to pull the car over cause of fighting. Wouldn't that just leave you more time with the fighters? I guess I could just walk away but where would I go? It's a conundrum. So I'm just going to do what I always do, barely look at the road and txt my friends. No! I'm going to think positive and just hope we don't end up in North Dakota.
Friday, August 7, 2009
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4 comments:
What's up with you and the LONG car rides???? And I remember my dad pulling over and just SITTING on the side of the road. That was usually enough for my brother and I to stop fighting - because he actually pulled over... you know?
2, yes 2, family car trips out west. 3 plus weeks each in the paneled station wagon. Forget the seat belts - we would flatten out the back and play board games, the License Plate Game and count down the miles to Wall Drug.
Amy, texting while driving is now the number one cause of accidents. But I guess that is better than drinking and smokin pot, like that Long Island mother that killed eight people last week. Just keep your eyes out for the "do not enter" signs.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/06/national/main5220608.shtml
My father always threatened us with, "I'm gonna pull over and you bastards are gonna have to walk!". In which we would all laugh...until he pulled the car over. we did not need to be going on long cross country road trips for this to happen. Sometimes a simple half hour drive to a relatives house was enough.
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