Oh the memories. Eight people in a muggy big blue van. The mattress in the back. The sunsets, the sunrises. The blasting music---Chicago. The blasting wind---"ewwww, who was that!?" Eight hour drives, twelve hour drives. Oh the memories.
And now, it's me and My Man's turn. Five people in a muggy blue camry. The games---
"I spy with my little eye...something.....blue!"
"The Sky!"
"You got it!"
"I spy with my little eye...something....brown and green!"
"That tree!"
"You got it!"
" I spy with my little eye...something...black and yellow!"
"The street!"
"You got it!
The songs---
"Everyone together now! A B C D E F G H I J K L ...."
"I am a child of God!"
"I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn..."
The counting---
"1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF!!!"
The questions---
1 min. into drive "Mom how long do we have to drive for?
5 min. into drive "Mom, I'm bored"
8 min. into drive "Stop touching me Cy! Mom she keeps touching me!"
12 min into drive "Mom are we almost there?"
The whining---
"But I'm hungryyyy. "
"But I have to peeeeee."
"Why do you keep talking to dad?"
"Talk to me!"
"My stomach doesn't feel good."
NAP TIME---Finally.
The music. The crying. The sunsets. The nodding heads of in-and-out sleep. Two hour drives, four hour drives---nothing compared to what my family took on.
Roadtrippin' with the little ones is hard. Very hard. And a lot of the time I find myself dreading the dead hours of driving. But I want those memories so badly for them, and hopefully as they get older it will get better, the conversation will get better, the laughing will be hardier, the parenting more minimal, the music louder, the singing louder.
Any memories worth making need to be worked for and deserved. Having a happy family is hard, it is work, it is patience. Seems like roadtrippin' for the next few years is going to be a great place to practice and learn all of that.
