in the backseat

Sometimes I really wish I could put up one of those plastic dividers that NYC cab drivers have in their cars. Zip . . . open it up when I want to hear the cute singing from the backseat. Zip . . . close it when the whining and fussing starts. I have a love/hate relationship with the back seat. On one hand my precious cargo reside in their seats with all their cute idiosyncracies. I love the songs and the discussions. I love to hear them working out a problem or bargaining for a later bedtime. But what I do NOT love is the fighting, the crying, the whining, the throwing of books/toys, the leaning over to pinch each other or crocs that come shooting at my face. Oh yes, I have seen it all.

But today after driving home from back-to-school shoe shopping (one of my other not-so-favorite activities), the noise from the backseat was beyond my decibal level. We were stuck in rush hour traffic--which of course didn't help anything--and my son had to pee. I could hear my daughter starting to spiral. "Mommy, I'm hungry. Why didn't I get any Legos. My tummy hurts. I have to pee. Where are my new ponytail holders. Where's my daddy. I need my daddy." Then my son starts in. "Mommy, I really have to pee. Why is there so much traffic? Are we ever going to get home? Anna, don't push me. Mom, Anna pushed me. Mom, I really have to pee right now." Then my daughter starts to get pissed. I hear her rip the velcro from her shoes. But I know that sound. That is the sound of mom-I'm-mad-and-I'm-going-to-throw-my-shoes. I stopped her. "Hey there. If you are taking off those shoes to throw at me, remember what I told you. What gets thrown up here, like the toy you just threw, will be taken away from you." Silence. Ah ha! I have detected the sound and beat her at her own game.

See, those sounds from the backseat of the early Baby Bunching days don't end when kids can talk. I remember hearing crying and screaming from both kids for a long time. One kid would set off the other and the whole car would be a rockin' good time of crying babies. Oh so fun. As they got older, my son would provoke Anna or I would enlist him to keep her awake until we got home, which usually meant screaming at the top of his lungs or throwing toys until she would scream bloody murder. Also so fun. We're a party household, can't you tell? At some point the evitable "line" appeared. "He touched my seat." "She touched my seat." And we'd go back and forth with that.

Seriously, can I get a divider installed in my car. Would they do that while they fix my broken CD player in my car?

Comments

[Justice Fergie]

too funny. and oh-so-true.

good for you for taking the kiddies shoe shopping - i just ordered mine online b/c I can't be bothered with the whole expedition to the store!

[Cara Fox]

HA! Yes. Having experienced the pleasure of having your children in my backseat, I can vouch for how this outing must have gone. But take heart - now mine are just as bad as yours, so misery has company!

[feener]

oh yes, the noise noise noise. i swear some days i just wish i could put ear plugs in the car...

[Justice Jonesie]

It's good to hear that my children aren't the only ones screaming like crazy in the back seat, or throwing shoes for that matter. God bless us all!! :)

[Michelle]

Ironically, I have been facing the same thing these days. Tomorrow I am posting about our last eventful ride in the car. I WISH there was a divider so no one could touch one another. It's not inspiring that it just gets worse with age. Ugh.

[Therese]

I want one! I want one!

(Mom of 3 under 4)

[Diana]

LOL. I had to laugh at your post. It doesn't end with baby bunching, but the fighting stops after the first or second kid moves out of the house or no longer wants to ride in the same car.

My sister and I are six years apart and still wanted to kill each other every time we got in the car. My Dad made a child divider. It went from floor of the seat to the roof of the car. It was a small, made of thin plywood and a he divised some way to strap that sucker to the seat. I remember seeing a part on the bottom that resembled a book end that would be squeezed between the gaps of the seat. Needless to say, we were good after that...sort of. I remember me trying to stick my small fingers through the little gap to annoy my older sister. It did stop fights though!!!