The End of the World as they know it....but I felt fine

We went on a little extended weekend vacation to Texas a few days ago.  It was supposed to be a 5 1/2 hour drive to the resort and I was well prepared.  I had the kiddos, the Big Sexy and myself all packed up.  The kids were instructed to pack  2 books, the girl's iPod, the boy's Kindle fire, Nintendo DS, and 4 movies each (since we were bringing the dvd player).  Yes, they have the gadgets.  No, I do not believe they are spoiled.  There was NO way that they were gonna be able to fight with each other or claim to be bored on this trip.   After loading everything into the car and getting on the road, everything seemed to be going smooth.  They decided to watch a movie first.  All was quiet in the backseat for a good long while and so we drove for about 2 hours before we got the first "I gotta pee, Ma."  We should have never stopped, because that's when all hell broke loose, or at least it was the end of the world according to the kids.

We stopped for a pee break and to go ahead and fill up on gas.  The kids took an opportunity to get snacks and drinks and we headed back to the car to finish up movie #1.  So we thought.  Yeah.  The dvd players were no longer working.  Oh sweet Lord.  The horror.  (insert sarcasm there)  It didn't take but about 30 minutes and the kiddos were bored.  Yes, bored.  Even with iPods, Kindles, and books.  Bored.  To make matters worse, we hit road construction and to tell you how long we were tied up in it, this 5 1/2 hour drive, turned into 8 hours.  After hearing how bored the kiddos were, The Big Sexy started up with "well, back when I was a kid, we didn't have no electronic gadgets.  We had to entertain ourselves."  As you can imagine, this went over really well with the kiddos and had their interest peaked (not).  But when we started talking about how we didn't have to buckle up when we were in the back seat and about how if we wanted to sleep, one would climb in the rear window, and the other two would get on the floorboard and put our head on the seats, well, that just amazed them.  "What if you had gotten in a wreck?"  "How could your mom see out the window?"  So, then we started making up what if scenarios.

Then I got to thinking.  (yes, I hear you ....DANGER, DANGER)  What did we do for fun?  What were some of the things we did?  I remember the A,B,C game.  I remember coming up with names of books by A,B,C....yes, this can be extremely difficult, but remember, I read a lot, since I was raised Pentecostal and had no tv and wasn't allowed to go to the movies.  We played the quiet game, alot.  Although, it wasn't until I had my own children that I understood why my parents loved this one so much.  We played "I spy the color....".  We sang....a lot.  A lot of good ole' Christian hymns.  So then that gave me another idea.  Let's turn on the radio.  We have XM so I knew that we could get a good variety.  Between my husband and myself, we have exposed our children to a wide variety of music.  He likes classic rock and head banging stuff, I love classic country and old school hip hop and yes....gasp, pop music.  Our kids can go from singing "Hit the Road Jack", to "Get Down with OPP" in no time flat.  What is fun, is listening to the words that they make up, thinking that they are right.  I could kick myself for not writing some of it down. 

After singing for about an hour (yes, that long) we came up to a bridge.  I have anxiety about bridges.  I am terrified of suspension bridges or really tall bridges or bridges that go over water.  TERRIFIED.  If I am driving, then I am the grandma with her hands holding the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles are white.  ChunkaMunk tried to make me feel better by saying that "it was just a letting a whole lotta air go under your butt instead of outta your butt" and we laughed until we got on the actual bridge and they kept making me try to look out to the sides, nope.  uh-uh.  Not happening.  "oooh, look at the water."  "oooh, look.  The sides of the bridge have little guns all the way across", then The Big Sexy tried to give me a history lesson about this bridge.  I didn't care.  I.  Did.  Not.  Care.  I was too busy replaying The Mothman Prophecy and every other movie that had a scary bridge scene in my head.  My son was also naming them out loud, just to enhance my fear, all while saying I was ridiculous.  I hate to admit it, but yes, I went to New York.  Nope.  I didn't walk the Brooklyn Bridge.  I stayed firmly on the ground.  I would love to see the Golden Gate Bridge in person, but I am not going on it.  The whole pick on mom about bridges lasted about 30 minutes.

The Big Sexy and I did the whole switch drivers at a red light (it was a really small town, no traffic) which had the kids sinking into the floorboard from sheer embarassment.... so we did it again.  We then played a few more "old timey" games and before we knew it, we were at the resort.  I was exhausted from having to help entertain, but you know what?  It was so worth it.  It was worth communicating with my kiddos.  It was worth the laughing.  It was worth the making of memories.  I'm sure that my kids will be telling their children the story of the time the dvd players went out and we had to be entertained by mom and dad and they will all laugh and laugh.  It was so worth it that I'm thinking of purposefully leaving all the electronics at home for the little trip we are having this weekend......okay, so maybe I will secretly stash them in the trunk for just in case.....cause you never know.