Wow, there is a lot of sagebrush in the southwestern United States!
I am in the back seat of a minivan with a computer on my lap as my 16-year-old drives. It’s pretty bouncy and weavy! He is trying to get his driving hours completed so he can get his driver’s license, and what better time than on a family road trip?. . . if mom’s nerves can stand it! Dad’s been sworn to zip his lips, since he can get verbally excited when teenagers are learning to drive!
It’s pretty fun to be all together, the family in such very close quarters—squished all together in a mini-van. It is impossible to “keep your hands to yourself”, or your legs for that matter. The inside of a van isn’t that big! It is times like this that birth so many inside jokes—jokes others don’t understand, and that are funny only because they represent shared memories, often shared difficulties. These inside jokes last a lifetime and reduce us to giggles instantly! Isn’t it the best?!
Emily, 18
Earlier in our trip, Emily was taking her turn driving along while I fed her raw cauliflower dipped in ranch dressing, trying to get it in her mouth while we bumped along on the desert highway. Ammon struggled up from his seat and wedged himself back between the arms and legs of complaining family members as he tried to reach into the suitcases and food stashed in the back of the van. It seemed like he was rummaging around for 20 minutes as we sailed down the road. As the complaining got louder, Ammon finally emerged with a book and a little bit of cheese. “All that for a little cheese?”, quipped one of the kids, which sent us into uncontrollable laughing. Nice stress relief. It kept us all from being upset with him. And now, all it takes to get us laughing again it for someone to say of any situation that inconveniences someone: “All that for a little cheese?”
There’s always problems, of course. We’ve got a temperature-sensitive child that is either freezing to death” or “burning up” even when everyone else in comfortable. Someone threw up (more than once). One child is tease-able. Another child likes to boss everyone. As do I.
Even still, moms have the power to make it silly and fun, rather than tense and scolding.
Happy times. Light-hearted times. So much of how family life goes has to do with how much you laugh, how much you find things to be funny. Smile, Mom. You may as well. Make it fun for the kids! YOUR attitude is everything . . .
. . . on a trip.
. . . in life.
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