Scenic Route

I though I would answer Judy's question from yesterday's blog...what do you do that makes car time so productive. What do I do ? Everything.

We sing.
Plan our upcoming days.
Talk about bad stuff that happens at school.
Talk about good stuff that happens at school.
Play skill testing questions games.
Sing silly songs we make up.
I fill them in on current events so they know what's going on in the world.
I point out things we see in Vancouver that reminds me of cool stories.
I ask Clara her letters, Emily multiplication and Jordan tricky spelling or geography.
I ask them questions that make them talk...a lot.
I review lessons we learned in Family Home Evening.
I review discipline they've received and how they feel now time has past.

If it's just Clara we count using a cookie monster voice, sing made up songs about cats, tell me your favourite part of _______. If it's Jordan and Emily I ask them provocative questions like is there anyone in your class that ever gets in trouble... Or if you could change three things about your life....they love to talk. If I could, I would host family home evening, church and dinner in the car. The kids are sitting in one spot, buckled in, with a scenic view out the window. I rarely turn the radio on and zone out. Did I mention the buckled in and can't move part? That's my favourite part. Next to sitting on their bed just before going to sleep, I think it is one of the most "I like to share how I really feel" times we've got going.

A Little Lesson:
The scenic view in life is really what you choose to look at. I took these picture a few weeks ago on a rainy day coming home from the academy, a drive I take many many times a month. If you look at the rain pouring down and the rush hour traffic it doesn't seem so scenic. However, if you notice the beautiful changing autumn trees all the way home, you would see how marvelous the drive home really is! They lined every street we drove down. So much so I grabbed my camera to take pictures while driving. For the record, I just held my camera up and pressed the button, I didn't look into the view finder or anything like that. (That disclaimer is for my husband.)