driving with kids

driving with kids can be like... holding your breath for far too long, or eating too much dessert and not being able to move, or having a slice cut through the middle of your forehead and no matter how much you try to massage it out, it won't budge

but it can also be like... a very zenlike experience, a very in-the-now experience as you stop, you can't do anything, you are stuck behind a wheel and all you can see is the world and all you can do is notice things, see things, you can't buy anything, you can't eat anything (really, for very long you'll run out), you can't even talk on the phone much (because generally it's not very legal and most of the time you can't drive too well while doing it),

it's like being a kid. driving is like being a kid. you're stuck, you only have so much at your disposal but you learn to make do with what you have and you learn to love the world as it is. there are not many distractions, really, that you have access to and so you just make you do and you learn to love and you learn to love the art of patience. you have to wait a lot. kids do. waiting. a lot of waiting. a whole lot of 'when are we going to get there?' because you never get to really be where you want to be because as soon as you get there, you've got to keep finding the next exciting place to be. you can't sit still. there is very barely any idling as a kid. you have to move move move move move.

and driving with kids? you learn how to harness your mind. you learn how to make peace with the nonsense. you learn how to negotiate, barter, cajole, flatter, lower your pride, admit defeat, be nice be nice be nice and if all else fails.... step out of the car. remove yourself. take a break. there is no solution to this other than standing on the side of the road of life and taking a break. you have to just stop the rolling momentum and figure out what's what.

but it can also be... beauty, transformation, surprises, huge massive riduclously big chairs built out of lord-knows-what on the side of the road, inventing car games that have never been invented before like 'let's pretend we are characters on a tv show who are riding in a car! game. and listening to music that carries you as you float down the road to the beat and driving becomes effortless as you and the car and the road and the trees and the mountains and the wind are one.