Driving With Kids

I just got back from Spokane from driving the kids to meet their aunt Tia. They get to go hang out in Seattle for the rest of the week with her and Uncle David. Needless to say, the kids were pleased with this situation.

On the drive to Spokane,it was just the kids and I. I began feel a bit irritated that a seemingly obvious features have not been offered to the general car-buying public.

Of course, what I'm talking about, is a sound proof window between the front seat and the back (with the option of either being opened or closed). Included with this, a speaker system so you could still hear your children in the back seat, but have VOLUME CONTROL.

I'd also submit as options, that a second window (and a third, depending on how many children you have) divide the back seat so that each child has their own private section of seat where no one can ever touch them (and when I say "no one", I of course mean the sibling who is has acquired the impressive skill of making his sister react mightily with the mere SUGGESTION that he COULD put a toe or finger on her side of the car, if he so chooses this dark path). When needed, the windows between children will have the option of becoming non-transparent, so no one will ever be able to exclaim "He's looking at me again MOMMMMM!!! (The volume control will also be beneficial in this situation).

I submit that some of the benefits to including this option to any car package would be:

- Fewer wrecks from parents checking in their rear view mirror covertly to see who really IS the kid who crossed the invisible line into the other kid's section first.

- Fewer wrecks from parents daring a quick, but deadly, glance into the back seat as a warning that your mother looking at you with that twitching eyeball is a lot more disturbing than your sibling looking at you.

-A bonus plus to the sectioned off back seat is that anyone choosing to emit noxious fumes would be the only one to suffer from that particular choice. Fumes= watery eyes and gagging, which produce an unsafe driving environment.

One more suggestion for this back seat: They will be made out of rubber, with no seams where food, crayons, or any other kid goo can get lodged. At the end of a trip a car can simply be hosed down and wiped off.

Now I know these are not new ideas. In fact, they are probably part of a collective dream of parents everywhere. The thing about this dream, is that it's the DREAM ITSELF that causes me to smile a little more easily as I drive down the road with kid chaos in the backseat. I know someday the real memories will be the conversations, and the times we've spent together as we've driven down the road. The chaos and my reaction to it will be the stuff of our family stories. So, I guess in reality, all I need for now is just the dream to get me through the louder moments in the car with my kids:) Time will take care of the rest.