We’re on a road to nowhere.
Not quite, but with a stack of books, two DSi devices, and a dozen DVDs waiting in queue in the backseat between my kids, we could be. I don’t think they would even notice, and that’s fine by me.
My, how things have changed.
Thirty-three years ago, at the height of the oil crisis, my dad got rid of his gas-guzzling Buick and bought a used ’77 Diesel VW Rabbit. Tan. Four door. Stick-shift. Plush-velour seats. Eight-track player. Crank-down windows. No air-conditioning. (I remember these details because 1) of a very traumatic summer vacation drive; and 2) this car eventually became mine when I was old enough to drive, and I drove it till it was 12 years old with 186,000 miles and no first gear, and could no longer be driven in the rain without the electrical system shorting out, making stormy-day commutes to my first post-college job rather stressful).
My dad loved that car. And the fuel he saved.
We kids? Eh.
In that Summer of ’79, it—and not my mom’s station wagon—was the vehicle of my dad’s choice for our eight-hour drive to the beach. We’d made similar drives before. My parents seemed allergic to destinations closer to our mid-Atlantic home state, though there are plenty of beaches along the Mid-ATLANTIC.
On the morning of that trip, my sister, now-6’5”-twin brother who was even tall for his age back then, and I (already at least 5’8” in ’79) climbed into the backseat and “settled in” for the drive.
We didn’t read books—we’d get car sick; maybe it was the bumpiness of the ride, or the heat. We didn’t have movies. We just got to listen to static-filled talk-radio and the occasional 8-track tape of an opera my dad favored. And bond. We had lots and lots of time–eight captive hours–to yack it up with my parents.
We stopped once, for lunch. My dad was thrilled that we made it all the way to our destination—400 miles—on one tank of fuel. We were just thrilled to pile out, clear our heads, and slowly work out our leg and neck cramps.
The other day, in my capacity as editor of a parenting magazine, I received an email pitch for a service product; to entice me, they offered up a free article about the importance of “bonding” with our kids while on those long car rides to our summer vacation destinations. They want us parents to turn OFF our kids’ DVD player and DSi gaming devices. To have them close their books. Do they think I have NO memory of my own childhood? That I didn’t PAY EXTRA for those electronic devices especially for trips like these?
Look, I have plenty of “bonding time” with my kids. There’s daily downtime. Meal time. Bedtime. Driving to and from pretty much any destination OTHER THAN THE BEACH—where, keeping with tradition, we’re now headed, for what MapQuest assures me will take a *measly* 10.25 hours.
I only want to hear “Are we there yet?” every hour or two–when they’ve finished a book or are watching a movie’s closing credits.
For the love of Pete, we have a week at the shore to bond.
As usual, hilarious and true. We had to put a line of masking tape down the back seat, and all through the back of the car so my brother and I could keep our sides apart- and would spend the first hour sneaking a finger or toe over the tape only so we could punch each other for breaking the boundary. Yup, we have the DS and the DVD player- but I will say that after a battery outage on my car, the radio has never been able to be reset- damn computers- i refuse to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for a new one from Honda so Vivi and I talk all the time in the car- of course we are taking Hans’ car to the beach…….Have fun!!!!
Love the masking tape! I have a rule–no movies for trips under 2 hours. But they still just take books for the 12-minute drives to the pool for the most part. Bonding time is usually outside of car rides of any length (but at least they can put down a book easily). We drove down yesterday, and my son never once asked “Are we there yet?” He never looked up from his book. My daughter, as expected, asked at the end of each movie or DSi game. But THAT I can handle!
My husband’s family had a station wagon and one too many kids for seats since they brought the babysitter so they drove from Toronto to Florida (23 hours) with the kids taking turns lying down in the trunk area with the luggage. My sister and I used to be beltless and lying down in a pillow fort on the back seat of our car. The 70′s were different. What else are these kids to do these days when they can’t move a muscle in their seats? I saw let them watch movies! I think movies are great anyhow. I remember every movie I ever saw as a child.
Husband disputing station wagon story- must have been someone else who told me that one. Anyhow, the 70′s were footloose and fancy free! I couldn’t imagine letting a free roaming kid in a car these days!
I know–aside from it breaking so many laws, we know too much now-a-days. Sigh.
I also used to hunker down on the floor behind the driver’s or front passenger seat, with legs going over that hump and over onto the other side… really safe, huh? Only reason we weren’t in the “way back” of Mom’s station wagon (which we used every summer till ’79) was because it had too much luggage!
Puzzle books and word search along with two books are set to be packed into my 11 year olds bag. Oh…and a baseball hat! This is very important and must not be left behind because he will pull it down over his eyes and fall asleep or quietly zone out. I remember trips like you had as a child…except ours was a Datsun with 3 kids in the back seat and a dog. Those were the days….”Mom! She’s drooling on me again!” At least we will not have that on our trip this coming week! Bring on the toys…for me! I plan on blogging everyday…well we will see!
Oh, forgot about the trips with the dogs! We thankfully kenneled the pets in 79… Good luck on your drive this year!