Who can forget this scene from the movie, “Vacation”?  Chevy Chase assessing the damage while his family looked on in dismay.  In this part of the story, Clark Griswold has a man to man “good talk” about life, with his son, Rusty.  With many miles under my back side, I’m reminded of the many “good talks” I had with my own children in the car.

Memories of their accomplishments during those growing up years, paled in comparison to the Some of the time spent carting them from one event to another. We shared a lot of good stuff on the way to those things. You wouldn’t expect those chauffeuring moments to create long time bonding, but it does.  Certainly many cab drivers get an earful when delivering their patrons to their destination.

Lots of good parental advice can be deled out in the car.  After all, you have a captive audience, so why not use that valuable time to solve the problems of their world.  We talked about what happened during their day, what they expected from the event we were going to, and how they were coping with things in general. Since we live in a world which revolves around getting from one place to another, those precious moments can be a boon to parenting.

Of course, if you’re faced with inclement weather, detours, accidents and other driving obstacles, you want to keep your attention on the road.  Today children are more focused on their phones or other electronic devices, but maybe as their parent, you should ask them to turn them off when in the car.  You can set the example by turning yours off as well.

Treasure the time you have with your children. Soon they will be leading their own lives and it’s good to know that they can talk to you anytime . . . even in the car. I should probably add that my “captive audience” was sometimes asleep while I was pressing on through wind and snow, but that didn’t deter my conversation.  I had to talk to keep myself awake on those early morning drives into school.