"It's amazing what you spot sometimes while stuck in traffic. The other day, for example, I saw what appeared to be a family of four riding in a minivan, with each person blabbing away on their cell phones. The four riders were all looking out their windows - off their own little worlds (cells?) and seemingly oblivious to everyone else in the van. I guess riding in the family car isn't what it used to be.

For many fortysomethings like me, trips in the family car ushered in some of the most colorful moments while we were growing up - singing songs, inventing word games and engaging in sibling arguments that ended with the passenger parent roaring from up front: "Don't make me come back there!"

A few years ago, while my family and I were driving down South, I conjured up what's become our own family-car tradition: two games involving license plates. With the first, we see who's quickest at adding numbers on plates of the cars that pass. With the other, we see how many words can we create out of the letters on plates.

My 11-year-old daughter Nyaniso has become quite good at it, often adding faster and coming up with more words quicker than her parents. I'd like to believe that it'll help bolster her interest in math and vocabulary.

Besides, anything beats a riding game that's popular with kids her age. As soon as they spot a Volkswagon Beetle, they denote the color while hitting a person in the car and yelling, "Punch buggy, no punches back!"

Tell us your strategies for bonding -- or not -- on long car trips.

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