Going on road trips with my husband is painful. Any destination that is more than one hour away from our starting point is just unbearable. He starts to fidget, whine, complain, and then whines some more. What does he complain and whine about? You name it, he brings it up. The directions aren’t right or they don’t make sense. Why did we have to plan this trip? Who’s idea was this? Usually, the destination was his choice in the first place. However, when embarking on road trips while sitting next to him, it isn’t the best time to mention that he’s the one who wanted to go in the first place. I try to keep my mouth shut as best as possible. It isn’t always easy.
I remember road trips with my parents when I was younger. We’d drive, straight through, from Pennsylvania to Florida and everyone maintained a good mood the entire way. My mother was always more than prepared for our road trips, keeping my brother and me entertained when we needed to be. She encouraged us to take naps quite often too. Road trips were times of bonding and being a family. I loved them.
Now, I’m married and have grown to hate road trips. Perhaps if I went someplace without my husband it simply wouldn’t be painful. The older that I’ve gotten, however, I find that I just can’t sit as still for hours as I used to be able to do. I want to stop much more frequently. Two years ago, my husband and I were driving to Cape Cod, a seven-hour drive, and not making as good of time as he would have liked. I made the mistake of mentioning that I needed to use a bathroom, which threw him off into a tangent. I sat as still and quiet as I could for the next hour until I absolutely couldn’t hold it any longer. He finally pulled over, but grumbled the rest of the way about it. I drink as little as possible during road trips now. I can only imagine when our daughter is out of diapers and has to go to the bathroom next year. He’ll be insane.
I admire my mother for always having been prepared. When we were bored, she’d pull out magazines and coloring books that were brand new to us. She played all sorts of card games and “car” games with us. She’d make up silly songs and stories to keep us from getting too bored. She always had a snack and a drink nearby for us as well. To all mothers out there, be sure to always be prepared during road trips. Have entertainment, snacks, and drinks all within reach so that you can get to them as quickly as possible. And if road trips with spouses are a bit too much to handle, don’t drink too much and sit as still as possible. Maybe it’ll work for you.
