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Are you having problems with your children fight and fussing in the car? I think perhaps we all have at one time or another, but we need to work on changing this fighting and fussing in the car.
For one thing it can be dangerous to be driving and have to turn around to separate two children, as you could lose control of the car. Things have to change and you can have control over the children, I promise. It takes a little thought and a little effort, but it certainly can be achieved.
I do realize you can get them in their seat belts and before you start the motor they are already starting to be upset with each other and then you are stressed before you pull off from the curb in front of the home. You get to thinking, 'wow, if I had a car with a window between me and
the children and I couldn't hear them fighting and fussing...', but that's not the answer. Children sometimes have problems getting along in the home, much less putting them in the car in a smaller space.
One thought would be to establish rules before getting in the car, letting them know your expections of them on their behavior. Plan to punish if necessary when you are back in the home, have a time out period of each child that doesn't mind and make sure you don't forget or let that child talk you out of time out.
The worst problem for children traveling in a car, even a few miles, is they are bored and need to be busy, so you might bring along a special book for them to read, if younger, perhaps a special toy or a doll. There are many travel games in the stores now, even have a radio headset for each child to listen to their favorite cd or cassette tape as they ride along. These might be only used in the car.
Other thoughts would be to play games as you ride, perhaps word games or games where the first person to see a red car wins. Talk about the events of the day or the week, plan ahead for the weekend, there are so many ways to keep your children's thoughts from turning to fighting and fussing and sure you'll have days when nothing seems to work but the days when the ride is quiet and fun for you and children will become more frequent with a little planning and forethought on your part.
You might even put a special song in the cassette or cd player in the car and even sing along with your children, I know they would love that. Ask the children what they might like to do as they ride along in the car, let one choose a special game for all to partipate on alternate times in
the car. You might also assign a seat to each child or let them trade seats weekly or places in the car, perhaps if you have a van as most familes seem to have now, let one sit on the second row of seats directly behind you and the
other on the back row of seats, this can discourage hitting and slapping each other if they are sitting directly next to each other.
Of course hitting and slapping is totally not acceptable in the car or at home.
Planning the activies of the car may take a few minutes of your time and enforcing your wishes upon the children while riding in the car, but the rewards of these plans will surely be worth the effort. Always try to have an enjoyable time with your children and they will in return with you: that's the reward of committing to being a good parent.
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