Parents often say: “If I had a pound for every time I heard ‘are we nearly there yet?’, I’d be rich.” Having three young children myself, I know only too well the feeling of dread when, 30 minutes into a five-hour drive, the interrogation begins.
In our family, it starts quite politely. “Mummy, are we nearly there yet?” drifts over from the back seats. But this approach is rapidly replaced by an aggressive cross-examination, picking apart how much longer I previously said was left of the journey versus how long I am currently saying remains.
By the end of the drive, I have promised myself that I will never take them anywhere ever again. But why is it that journeys seem so excruciatingly long for children? One reason is that our experience of time changes as we age, often resulting in the sensation of time passing more quickly as we get older. This is typified by the sensation that “Christmas comes around more quickly each year”.
