Thursday, July 17, 2008

a ride with FCG and family

family loads suitcases, hatboxes, shoe bags, ponchos, games, and extra shoes into trunk of van, and pulls out of driveway.



brothers 1 and 2, and sister 2 plug into ipods. mother takes out nail polish, sister 1 goes to sleep.



mother:boys, did you remember to pack your taleisim?



brother 1: what?



mother repeats question



(why do we always do checklists after we've pulled out? shouldn't we do it before we get into the car?)



brother 2: yes we have everything



mother: guys if you had to take a citizenship test, do you think you would pass?



silence



mother looks into the back of the van and sees one texting child, one sleeping child, and three children swaying to music way too loud



mother: hey, what's the rule? when we're all together in the car, no music!



children continue to sway; they can't hear her because their music is still way too loud.



mother: what year was the civil war?



loud snorts from brother 1 and brother 2



fcg and sister 2: 1861-1865



mother: what was the main difference that caused the war?



sister 1: industry



sister 2: hello?!? slavery!!



it's a good thing sister 1 was born an American



mother: name all the American conflicts

sister 2 starts rattling them off: American revolution, french and Indian war, war of 1812-

brother 1: french and Indian!! that has nothing to do with America!


sister 2 rolls her eyes and doesn't even bother explaining


brother2: why do we have to know this! it's bad enough we have to learn this in history!


mother ignores him and continues to alternate between asking history trivia, doing her nail polish, and trying to convince father not to go more than 25 miles above the speed limit.


sister 1 and 2:fcg, you got a new text message!


fcg:that's it, i'm not sitting in the middle anymore!


fcg and sister 2 switch places. now fcg can safely text behind sister 2's skirt which is hanging, and doesn't have to be wary of mother's ever watchful eye


mother:fcg, are you texting cha cha for the answers?


sister 2: fcg! sister 1 fell asleep! give me your phone (proceeds to take pictures, all of which are extremely unflattering)



sister 2, waking suddenly: wait! i forgot a pair of shoes at home!



brother 2: please! you won't have enough time in the whole weekend to wear all the clothing you pack! you don't need to pack everything you own!

3 comments:

Originally From Brooklyn said...

You have a very entertaining family.My family isn't that interesting. If they were, I wouldn't have to walk alone so often.

Looking Forward said...

sounds almost like my family and our "quick quizzes"

oh and btw about the civil war sister 1 is right. Slavery was an after the fact moral argument. The major cause of the war was economic exploitation. (of which slavery was origionaly a very small part.)

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Wow, you talk about history in car rides?