A friend wrote recently about keeping the children from fighting in the car.
I think most people deal with it from time to time.
I know the old, "If you don't stop, I'm going to pull over!" routine but really, I've discovered that the person with the most invested in getting wherever we are headed is usually not involved in the fracas...usually it's me, the driver and "keeper of the peace."
(Peace being relative, of course. ;) )
I have "threatened" to make the loudest offender ride on the roof. (I picture having them strapped to the top of the van like Granny in her rocking chair a la The Beverly Hillbillies.) One of the boys takes it literally and thinks it would be cool, one of them tells me I would go to jail...sometimes the mere mention causes the distraction everyone needs to bring a sense of (relative) calm and order.
The potential for discontent and the need for elbow room are one of the reasons we want to replace our current (limping and wheezing, but still getting us where we need to go) 7 passenger van with a 12 passenger instead of going for something that seats 8. I've been keeping my eyes open for something affordable (aka cheap) that will get the job done.
A couple of months ago I thought I saw the van that would solve all my problems. A local "Mom and Pop" car lot had not one but two bigger passenger vans that were, according to the numbers written on their windshields, a REALLY good deal.
The following day, the husband and I took a ride over to look longingly at them. It was very interesting...there was lots of steal, and I don't mean the body. They had mesh/fencing covering all the windows and between the front seat and the rear of the van. The light bulb went on...we were looking at used prison vans. (I do think this would have been a little extreme to deal with bickering, don't you?)
I wondered aloud how much it would cost to get all the mesh removed but the reality is that I couldn't see myself transporting my sweet little darlings in such a van. (It's all about perspective isn't it? They might sometims fight like cats and dogs, but it gave me the heebie jeebies thinking about strapping my "innocents" (go ahead and laugh) in there.)
A limo with that privacy glass between the driver and passengers...that I maybe could deal with. ;)
-Peace
HA! That would be pretty funny.....imagine the horrified looks on your children's faces? LOL! Growing up my mom kept a piece of plastic racetrack under the seat.......that did a good job of discouraging any serious car fights! :0) And lest you should think my mom is evil, she only had to use it once and she stopped the car to do it. That made believers out of us!
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