Rhonda's Ramblings

You know something that makes me sad?

Kids always have to sit in the back seat these days. I mean it’s bad enough that they have to be always strapped in and have to be in carseats almost until they hit puberty. My brother and I never wore seat belts when we were little. And we survived. My brother only fell out of the car once, but he wasn’t really hurt; he was more upset about losing his sandwich. But kids now can’t even sit in the front seat, because every car now has airbags and kids might get hurt by these safety devices.

This would have taken a lot of the joy away from my childhood. How many times did my brother and I fight over who got to sit in front. I’m surprised my mom never really implemented a policy. She kind of left it up to us. Once in a while, she would make us take turns and put her foot down. Otherwise, it was a free for all. “All” being my brother and I. I recall that at times, shotgun would go to whoever yelled “I call the front!” first. But it had to be after we were outside of the store or the house. You couldn’t “call it” while we were still inside.

Sometimes we would determine who got to sit in the front by whoever touched the car first. I inevitably lost in this one, because my brother was older and more athletic, and therefore quicker. So, he would tag the car first.

And the other way we would decide who got the front was by arguing over whose turn it was. Of course, we always theought it was our own turn. So, we’d argue about it, until one of us gave in, or my mom got frustrated enough to make one of sit in the back.

Kids nowadays don’t even know what kind of sibling bonding they are missing.

My kids will be sitting in the front seat.