Back when I was a kid, all four of us sat in the back seat. That was waaaaay before seat belts, car seats and all that other stuff. My stepmother had a sure fire way to keep us from fighting. Everyone had to sit with their hands on their knees.A few years down the road, I had four kids of my own. Once they were too big for car seats... well, they spent a lot of time with their hands on their knees. It worked. Of course, they were more inventive and tried using their elbows, but in general, it worked.
Recently, my granddaughters traveled in my car. Bicker, pick, bicker, pick... and I turned around and said, "Put your hands on your knees!" Thought my daughter was gonna laugh herself sick. Some things never change.
Isn't it good to know that you can count on something?
anny
Funny!!!! Bet that shocked em into silence...Grandma Anny on a tear. And NO some things never change.
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to turn around and give us 'the look' and we were instantly quiet. It secretly amused the hell out of her and I use that 'look' today
ReplyDeleteThere were only two of us. Dad made us look out our own side windows and since we had seatbelts then, we were strapped in. That worked too, but with four? I don't know what Dad would have done.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I have a van! I can put them all in separate seats...unless hubby is with us. But even then, sometimes I end up in the middle seat to keep the teens apart...how do you deal with 'Mom! He's BREATHING on me!"?
ReplyDeleteMy mom gave us stuff to keep us busy--lists of things to spot out the car windows, those Invisible Ink puzzle books.
ReplyDeleteOn long trips, pillows were piled between us.
Not that we needed it--I, at least, was the perfect child. My brother *always* started it. ;-)
Your step mom sounded like a very smart woman:)
ReplyDeleteI was an only kid so had no role models to teach me what to do with my 5 kids. I could try the hands on your knees approach. I'm pretty sure the elbows, the knees, the feet, and even head butts would come out. But I'll try it.
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