Kids and driving don't mix

I am not talking about the teenager who just gets his/her license. That post will be in about two and a half years so keep a look out. No, I am talking about those little knee high, booster seat sitting, rug rat, back seat drivers. It is bad enough running errands about town, but a seven hour trip with them makes me want to drop them off at the nearest exit.

Now kids are not stupid, they understand a lot of things but driving is not one of them. They just don't get why mom can't reach the toy from her drivers seat that they dropped which rolled to the back of the van. No clue why mom can't pull into a McDonalds on the left side of the road from the far right lane. And why isn't there a gas station at the exact moment they need to pee?

Rugrats: Mom look, look, look, mom, mom, mom......

Me: I can't look I am driving.

Rugrats: Mom, mom, mom, mom, looooookk!!!!!!

And there it is, the nagging, the screaming, the yelling about who took who's toy. Then they expect mom to just put the car on cruise control so she can come back and smack one of the kids and give the toy back to the other.

So, seven hours of this while my radio keeps getting louder and louder. Because just maybe if they think I can't hear them they will leave me alone long enough to actually drive in a safe and unstressed manner.

I also encountered my first sand storm. It was during the worst driving part of the day too. That time between dusk and the total darkness of night. I would've pulled off to the side road if I had been able to see the side of the road. It was so thick and pretty scary. Luckily it was only for a couple of miles. With all the wind I can't even tell you how many tumbleweeds were blowing across the highway and how many I ran over lol.

Can I hope the trip back will be better?? Yeah right!!!