Monday, July 19, 2010

The Road Trip - Remember When They Used To Be Fun?


Ahhh, remember the days when a friend would declare 'ROAD TRIP' and you would all scramble to get your stuff together on a couple days notice (or even 1 day notice)? Remember how much fun it was? Someone would think to make up a mix tape (GOD that made me sound old), someone would remember to bring snacks, someone would think of a couple good stops to make on the way. It didn't really seem to be where we were going, getting there was really half the fun.


Now the mention of the word 'road trip' sends shivers up my spine and makes me quietly back away from the conversation like it never came up; kind of hard to do when hubby is the one mentioning it and you're the only other person in the room.


For me road trips now mean multiple healthy snacks, Dora and Diego books, games, planned potty breaks, toys, Doodlebop cds, and Calliou and Barney DVDs. Road trips now mean endless versions of 'How much longer', 'I don't want to listen to Elmo', 'He hit me!'. They also now mean getting from point A to point B in the quickest most efficient manner as to limit the actual time spent sitting in the car. Gopher Hole Museum, who cares?!? We must get to our destination NOW!

All the enjoyment I used to get out of driving has now been removed from the vehicle. I used to love quite time to think to myself, and at times pumping MY music and singing along. Now I sadly know all the words to every childrens cd we own and even worse, find myself singing said songs even when I'm not around the kids. Egads!

Toddlers have sapped all my enjoyment of road trips. I truly hope that one day we can stop to view Pinter MacBean in Bow Island, or Susie - The Largest Softball in Chauvin, or even the World's Largest Piggybank in Coleman. Until then should you ever want to propose a road trip to me it must be presented in the following manner: 'Jody...girls weekend - spa; quiet time; drinks; 4 star restaurants. Want to go?' I'd also probably accept this alternative: 'Jody...couples weekend - wine tour; spa; quiet time; 4 star restaurants. Want to go?' Now THOSE are the types of road trips I can get excited about!

2 comments:

  1. Ooo, I have a girls road trip to BC coming up and I'm going to make the most of it! This will definitely be the ONLY road trip that I'll take this little bean on for a very very long time! Thank god my families are in relatively short driving distance!

    - Shilo

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  2. Love this! When the kids were younger, we used to time trips with naps. Kids still sleep well in the car if we wear them down! Still do all the prep work (packing) in case. Hubby has listened to me sing kids' songs etc. to keep them amused. (No DVD in the truck.) Somewhere along the line we managed to travel with them enough that it's not really too painful now - they'll even just sit and look at books themselves sometimes. Stopping for small visits is still low on the list - unless it means getting a treat for the kids, and we do try to camp relatively close-by to avoid the trip, but I DO believe it gets a LITTLE better with practice - just like going to restaurants and such. Well, except you'll probably be singing your kids' music until the end of time . . . .
    -Terri

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