Kids Put a Damper on Memorial Day Weekend Road Trips With These Phrases
It's more than just, "Are we there yet?" That usually starts in the driveway, and there a dozen other comments and questions that can take the steam out of our Memorial Day Weekend road trips just as quickly. Here are some of the best zingers from the back seat that stress out parents.
I'm sure you can add to these with a hundred of your own. Me too!
One of my least favorite things to hear from the back seat is, "I dropped my ________ and I can't reach it." Oh the panic! And tears. And tantrums. It could be anything from a stuffed toy to a fruity snack, but when it's just out of reach of both the kid and the parent, it's a road trip crisis. Do you stop the car? Let your daughter unfasten her seat belt to grab it? That is not the correct answer. Ride it out and hope she forgets? She'll have to pee soon enough and you'll be stopping anyway, and then you can grab the darn thing.
More of the Worst Things for Kids To Say on a Road Trip:
I have to pee.
I peed.
I'm thirsty.
I spilled my drink.
He's touching me.
He's looking at me.
Mom and Dad in the front seat may be thinking all of those things too. We just don't verbalize them.
And then there's the constant barrage of questions from the kids. What does hitch hike mean? Why is the sky blue? Why does Texas have such boring license plates? Can we have donuts? When are we going home? Why don't snakes ever blink? Do we have Black Widows in Texas? Where does that river start? Are there sharks in that lake? Can I have gum? Why not? You have gum. Can we get a pet chinchilla?
Something seems to happen to kids eventually and the noise dies down in the teens. It goes from constant noise to dead silence in the back seat because they're sucked into their phones and headphones and iPads and never look up. I'm not sure which scenario is best.
I do know this. The radio never fails me and turning it up makes almost any road trip bearable. That, and snacks. Lots and lots of snacks.