My kids fight over shotgun constantly.
A coworker sent me a link to the shotgun guide, the official rules of calling shotgun, which my kids now stick to religiously.
It used to be, if we were going somewhere, Elijah would leave the apartment a half hour early so he could have the front seat (he’d just wait out at the car). But the official shotgun guide says you can’t call shotgun until the other competitors for the front seat are within sight of the car.
Why do they care? Mostly because our oldest, Nathaniel, is now taller than his dad, with super long legs, and doesn’t like being cramped in the back seat. He also tends to get carsick if he can’t see out the front window. But of course, the other kids can’t let him have the front seat all the time. It’s not fair.
Yesterday the boys and I picked Daniel up for lunch. When we were leaving the restaurant, Nathaniel got a refill of his soda, so Elijah made it to the car before him. He got in the back seat with his dad, and when Nathaniel came out, Elijah said, “I did you a favor, Nathaniel.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I told Dad to take shotgun, but he didn’t want it.”
Nathaniel said, “Uh. Thanks!” and we burst out laughing. Some favor!
I just printed the shotgun guide page to put in the car. I’m sure Jake will be reading it word-for-word, quoting it like a little 41″ tall mini-lawyer, “Vincent! It has to be “…heard by one witness!” I can so picture it now.
Comment by cathy — February 21, 2007 @ 12:04 am
You might want to check it for foul language first!
Comment by Susan M — February 21, 2007 @ 2:21 am
(Psychichead’s wife)Our son Jacob, 9, came up with names for other seats in the car, since he’s small for his age he doesn’t often get shotgun. We have sniper rifle and rocket launcher also.
Comment by Heather — February 25, 2007 @ 4:25 am
No way, that’s awesome. Reminds me of when Elijah was little and the older kids would yell “last one there is a rotten egg!” He thought they were saying “rotten pig,” and since he was always last and upset about it, we ended up making it a good thing to be the rotten pig. “Yay, you’re the rotten pig!”
Comment by Susan M — February 25, 2007 @ 4:31 am