Shane was not happy on our ride down, Friday. The TV broke. He started a full blown tantrum.
Now, I can sympathize. It's a long car ride. He traveled well the first half of the journey. I tried to play the Alphabet game, I spy, offer the radio, and do whatever I could to cheer him up. However, when he started to kick and hit everything around him I didn't let it slide.
I ate a piece of chocolate.
Shane stared at me in shock. Then he bawled.
He bawled and he bawled.
I let him cry for a minute before I tried to talk to him (very calmly). "Shane, would you like to listen to some music?"
He bawled some more. Shane was inconsolable for close to five minutes. I kept my voice very calm throughout (I was calm before, too!). I did not want to yell, and I did not want to chew Shane out for being upset (unfair!).
However, when he started to kick and hit again (including the TV) I reached back and grabbed another piece of chocolate.
Shane shrieked. "NO!!!!"
"Shane, if you start to kick and hit it makes me sad. If I get sad, I eat a piece of chocolate to feel better."
The hitting and kicking stopped immediately.
"Please, Daddy! NO!"
"I'm just going to put this chocolate right up here in case I get sad again."
All crying had ceased.
"I know it's a long car ride, Shane, and I'm sorry. We're going as fast as we can. Do you want me to turn the music back on?"
"Nothing."
"Okay. I'll do what you want."
"Nothing."
Well, at least the crying stopped. I tried a few bribes, but they didn't work out. Shane was ready to be free!
He cheered up immensely on the last little sprint. We counted down roads until Mommy's house. We ended up on the road behind Carrie on her way back from work. Shane was thrilled to see her (even in a car). He was a happy camper when she pulled him out of his car seat!
The end of a matter is better than it's beginning!
I'm so sorry that you and Shane had a stressful ride down. Darn that TV for breaking! I hope you paid for the warranty on it. Walmart has replaced the flatscreen TV that Steve Warhol bought twice in the past year for free because of people accidentally knocking it over at his nursing home. Fairfax County Public Libraries has tons of books on CD's for kids to listen to on car trips. They have a lot of the Hank the Cow Dog (by John Erickson) that you and your siblings loved listening to on long drives when you were kids. Has Carrie gotten a library card down there yet? We checked out a lot of books on CD's with Kirby, Yordy and Chelsea and that made our drives with them much more peaceful and helped them learn English better. We used to drive with you kids sometimes during times we knew you'd be sleeping for a good part of the way and that helped some. I also would make homemade playdough and bought little toys at thrift stores or yard sales that I gave out a lot during long trips and it was enough to make all 5 of you love the long car rides. It takes a lot of effort and planning but it's so worth it on those annual 2 weeks summer vacations to see your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that entailed a 21 hour drive to Texas from Virginia, a 15 hour drive from Texas to Nebraska and then a 21 hour drive back to Virginia. You were all packed in like sardines, but with all the special snacks, treats and activities, it was still pretty fun except when your brothers had bad gas.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom
The TV breaking was mildly annoying, but not super stressful. I couldn't fiddle with it while driving on a highway. It turns out one of the two screens still works, so I can set something up to play for most of the ride back. I won't be able to see or change anything once I'm driving. We've got some library books to go through now, too!
DeleteI always loved our car trips! You and I probably contributed just as much gas as anyone else did!