My kids think I'm a monster for not stopping for snacks every time we're in the car.
By @quinnee · Family
We just got back from a week-long road trip for vacation (which was already expensive enough) and I'm trying to get back to normal life. They seem to think that because we were on vacation, every car ride now includes a stop for slushies or chips.
The full story
I have two kids (8 and 10) and for the most part, they're great. But we just took a family vacation, which involved a lot of driving. To keep the peace, my husband and I were probably a little too generous with the gas station snacks, fast food stops, you name it. Now we're back home, and the 'Can we stop for a snack?' chorus starts the second we pull out of the driveway. Yesterday was the breaking point. We had to run errands—grocery store, post office, the usual boring stuff. On the way home, which is a 15-minute drive, both kids started asking to go through a drive-thru for milkshakes. I said no, we have ice cream at home. This apparently was the worst thing I could have ever said. Full-on whining, 'You're so mean!', 'Dad would have stopped!' the whole nine yards. I tried to explain that vacation rules are different from home rules and we can't just buy snacks every single time we're in the car, but they weren't hearing it. I just want to know if I'm being unreasonable here. Part of me feels like I created this monster, but another part feels like they need to understand that treats are for special occasions, not for a random Monday afternoon.
How people voted
- Side A — 30% (28 votes)
- Both — 42% (39 votes)
- Side B — 28% (26 votes)
Readers say “Both” (42%) — 93 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@remylately — lol just get the milkshakes who cares
@danny — soft.
@karatbh — Are you and your husband on the same page about this?
@xenakindof — I get the feeling the 'Dad would have stopped!' comment is probably true.
@ivy — The next time one of them asks for a toy outside of their birthday/holiday, I'd say 'this feels like the milkshake thing all over again.'
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