Are We There Yet?

Limits Improve Everyone’s Attitude

• What: Limit inquires about arrival time
• When: Confined to a car
• Why: Keep questions to a reasonable amount
• Where: In your vehicle

Ever heard this one: “Are we there yet?” Ever felt like threatening to pull over again, if you should hear that question one more time before your arrival? (Even though the last thing you want is for the journey to take longer.)

We hated that question about twenty minutes after the first time our first child put the words together. It turns out, the question is pretty cute on the first utterance. The second time gets less cute fast though, and in the span of ten minutes you’ve gone from adorable to abomination.

In our car, we welcome the questions. The only difference? Each kid gets a limit. We answer the question (not like they can’t see for themselves thanks to the navigation aides these days) and then remind them how many more times they can ask. They learn counting skills and budgeting and probably a host of other useful things. We keep our sanity intact. Knowing they can only ask a certain number of times, and keeping track of how many remain, keeps both of the adults in our family from losing it while confined to car with three curious minds.