Are we there yet?

The kids and I took a trip to Des Moines this week. This is the longest trip they have ever taken in the car. I think Sam has made the trip three or four times, and this is Kira's second trip. The last time I took her she was about two and thankfully was in an incredibly tight carseat. When we got to about Ames (with an hour of driving to go) she decided she had had enough and I think she somehow dislocated her shoulder (like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon) and got out of her carseat. I had to stop, tighten the already tight straps (so tight that she had to take shallow breaths) and then I had to drive with one hand holding her hips down into her seat for the last hour. That memory lasted a long time so I haven't been brave enough to take her on a long car trip for the last seven years.


It was way better this time! We listened to music played car games, the kids watched some videos, we stopped at gas stations and ate lots of junk food. No problems really at all, until today when they told me that when we were riding with my aunt out to her friend's farm and they were both sitting in the back seat, they had a vicious, mostly silent physical fight complete with biting. I heard some tusseling, and angry whispering, but I have to hand it to them for keeping their violence quiet. I never would have guessed there was biting.