Being on the road with the kids as the lone adult is a test of endurance. We were a mere 30-minutes into a 6-hour drive when the first “Are we there yet?” was heard, and only an hour after that when "I have to go to the bathroom" surfaced. I had packed a big fat bag of books and crafts with high hopes that the children would arrive at Grandpa and Grandma's cheerful and rested, even though Lucie did have to wait an hour for her dinner.
At the point when fidgeting and poking and simmering restlessness was about to boil over into mutiny, I came up with a game to unite the troops and distract them from their captivity. I grilled each of them in turn, asking all sorts of up-close-and-personal questions about their goals and future plans. Their answers and the laughter made us forget that we were hungry and out-of-sorts.
Grayson plans to live in Austin, Texas, so that he can have a farm in the big wide open. He's not sure why more people don't live on farms where you can grow everything you need and don't have to work or need money? He'll bring his wife and two sons to live with him, but absolutely no little girls. Three Golden Retrievers, one for each of his sons and himself, complete the family, unless his wife wants a cat (she probably will). He'll need a full-size Dodge truck on the farm, even though he's not working. The wifey gets a minivan.
Lucie's top priority is to live in LA, so she can go to Disneyland everyday. She'll need a big place for her four horses, three Golden Retrievers, and three cats (so the dogs have something to do all day). There will be three kids: two girls and a boy (and a horse for each of them). No mention of a husband. She plans to be a horse trainer.
Violet has her heart set on becoming a Three Musketeer, but only if she can wear a pink cape (it is okay to be both ambitious and like pink, you know). She'll have a golden talking cat and a horse named Sweetie, both of whom will live in a hotel in Santa Barbara with her. There will be no car (she's got Sweetie the horse, after all), no husband and no kids. She says "they do too much crying and don't smell very good." (Kids that is, not the husband.)
Even after being confined together in a small space for hours on end, these questions helped to remind me why I adore the company of my kids. You can use these questions, or just wing it on your next road trip.
At the point when fidgeting and poking and simmering restlessness was about to boil over into mutiny, I came up with a game to unite the troops and distract them from their captivity. I grilled each of them in turn, asking all sorts of up-close-and-personal questions about their goals and future plans. Their answers and the laughter made us forget that we were hungry and out-of-sorts.
Grayson plans to live in Austin, Texas, so that he can have a farm in the big wide open. He's not sure why more people don't live on farms where you can grow everything you need and don't have to work or need money? He'll bring his wife and two sons to live with him, but absolutely no little girls. Three Golden Retrievers, one for each of his sons and himself, complete the family, unless his wife wants a cat (she probably will). He'll need a full-size Dodge truck on the farm, even though he's not working. The wifey gets a minivan.
Lucie's top priority is to live in LA, so she can go to Disneyland everyday. She'll need a big place for her four horses, three Golden Retrievers, and three cats (so the dogs have something to do all day). There will be three kids: two girls and a boy (and a horse for each of them). No mention of a husband. She plans to be a horse trainer.
Violet has her heart set on becoming a Three Musketeer, but only if she can wear a pink cape (it is okay to be both ambitious and like pink, you know). She'll have a golden talking cat and a horse named Sweetie, both of whom will live in a hotel in Santa Barbara with her. There will be no car (she's got Sweetie the horse, after all), no husband and no kids. She says "they do too much crying and don't smell very good." (Kids that is, not the husband.)
Even after being confined together in a small space for hours on end, these questions helped to remind me why I adore the company of my kids. You can use these questions, or just wing it on your next road trip.
- Where will you live?
- What will your job be?
- Will you be married?
- Will you have kids? How many? Girls or boys?
- Will you have pets? How many? What kind?
- What will you drive?
- What will you do for fun?
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