Turn Over and Close Your Eyes

We took a lot of road trips growing up. A lot of time spent in mini-vans, driving through deserts and desolation. Ok, sometimes the view was nice, but out West, it's few and far between in certain states. Our parents would bribe us with the promise of a 'treat' (aka dessert) after dinner if we would stay awake in the car. Makes sense now, let a kid sleep all day and you are pretty much SOL for the rest of the night. Back then, we didn't have gameboys and dvd players folding out of the roof. It was a lot of reading, staring and taunting siblings.

So, we would arrive at our destination for the evening, check in to the motel, and go for dinner. Depending on where we were, sometimes we would take a look around. We would stop for our 'treat', my favorite was McDonald Land cookies (yum!), and then head back to the motel to go to bed. Well, a cool place like a motel room, filled with your brothers, and your parents watching Johnny Carson, does not provide sufficient motivation for sleep. Sugary treat, or not.

Our parents would see us tossing and turning, mostly turning to see the tv. Depending on where you were sleeping, that is. Some of us got to share a double bed, some of us enjoyed sleeping on the floor. I am not one of those crazy people. So, I would often try and maneuver myself to a supreme Carson vantage point. Our parents aren't stupid. I'm still trying to find the eyes in the back of my Mom's head, for goodness sake. You would get a few warnings and then......you would hear it, the last words before real trouble came (ok, I'm exaggerating, but you knew to cool it once they said it). "TURN OVER AND CLOSE YOUR EYES." Ugh.

I was always convinced that it was a ploy to deny us all a peek at those cool celebrities and, oh maybe, just maybe a chance to see Carnac the Magnificent. No, unfortunately, I have realized as an adult that a lot of things I thought my parents were spouting off as crazy talk is actually true. I know kids, shocking. But see, turning over and closing your eyes, it really does work. Try it, I'm getting ready to.