To not sit in the back so kids can sit in the front?

[Threedoa]

Disagreement with DH tonight. So would you sit in the back so your kids (say under 18, as I can maybe see the argument for over 18) can sit in the front of the car?

YABU - Yes, it’s normal to take turns for who sits in the front passenger seat
YANBU - No, adults in the front, children in the back.

Yes, this is what we do.

Adults in the front. My dc1 will be taller than me at about 11, and dc2 earlier, that certainly won’t move them to the front seat!

We brought a bigger car with adult leg room in the back 😂. I normally drive and my DH is still an inch taller than the boys. They’ve never actually asked to sit in front when we’re both in car. But as they like to be on electronics and I like to chat, I’d feel a bit short changed if I couldn’t sit next to DH who probably would equally like to be on electronics but will chat. They are ruthless in ensuring equal time in the front between them if one of us isn’t in car.

This! Waiting to see which (S)C wants the front.

This.

Depends, are we talking tall teenage boys with long legs or an 8 year old? When we got
to teenage we always rotated who sat where on holidays because my mum is only little so we
were all taller than her, so it wasn’t really fair for one person to always have to sit in the middle. I also let my DDs have turns in the front sometimes, although not on long journeys because I get back pain if I’m in the back too long.

I'd not say that the adult always sits in the front but I WOULD say that the adult who is not driving decides where they are sitting. Other passengers can ask but no one gets to insist.

I paid for the car, I get to choose where I sit. They can choose their seat when they can stump up the money for their own.

Depends on need really doesn’t it. I used to get very car sick so was often in the front and my mum in the back. My children at the moment are in the back due to car seat placement. One of my children is going to be very tall. I’m sure we’ll end up swapping to allow her in the front if she starts to find the back less comfy as an older teen.

Exactly

This was always an issue in my marriage (now separated) Ex would always insist from day 1 that DS sat next to him in the front and I had to sit in the back. It always felt odd and I was embarrassed as family members commented as to why I was the one always in the back. It definitely felt like a lack of respect as he refused to let me sit in the front and by our DS wouldn’t budge as mammy was the one in the back. It made me feel like I was the little kid in the back, there was child locks on the windows so I had to request if I could please have them open plus child locks on the doors so I was locked in until DH decided to open my door. I have literally never seen any family do what we did. It was so odd.

No. I bought over 50% of the car, pay a chunk of its running cost plus full it with fuel / organise MOT's. Plus l get car sick in the back

I sit in the back because I’m 4 foot 11, the limited leg room doesn’t bother me.

Depends on multiple factors. If we're going for a long drive, I generally prefer to have DD in the front with me.

There's something about a long drive that sends my usually very chatty DP almost catatonic. She just looks out of the window until she falls asleep.

I'm more likely to get conversation and help with navigation out of DD, which in turn makes the drive less tiring for me.

Adults in front, kids in the back unless things like car sickness are present.

Both my DS are taller than me. I’m 5’5” and one is 5’11” and the other over 6’. I give them the choice. If they want the extra legroom they can have it.

depends on the reason.
Navigator front. Person to be dropped last front. Mobility issues front. Larger people front.
Don't see the obsession on mn with this. Is it some weird asserting dominance thing? Just get your bum in the car.

Yanbu, adults in the front.

You sit where you want.

Nope

I often sit in the back now as I’m smaller than the teens with shorter legs. Boo!

I was never allowed to as a kid so in my turn now- otherwise I’ve lost out in all of my life on the better seat. The kids can do the same.

Have I missed something, is there some kind of status to sitting in the front? I don’t think that adults by default have some divine right to sitting in the front. Why not take it in turns?

So you’re talking about teenagers (albeit under 18)? And so probably getting on for your size or bigger than you? If that then it’s probably fair to take turns on occasion as the back of cars can get cramped. Unless you get car sick in the back? Do they?

My step mother has always refused to sit in the back seat. I remember horribly cramped journeys with two other large teenagers all of us bigger than her, squashed into the back alongside bags and such, and sometimes a dog too. While she insisted on sitting, bag free, in the front and ‘couldn’t possibly’ consider moving her chair forward in the slightest.

She would also always refuse to share the driving duties with my father and would always insist, after we arrived anywhere after a long journey, that she must have a good sit down with a cup of tea - someone else had to make it for her - to ‘recover’ while watching us all, my father too who had just driven 6 hours or whatever without a break, unpack the car and struggle to carry suitcases upstairs.
Once, only my father and her were there, she and my father drove a couple of hours to a friend’s for lunch. Early on the way back he was taken very ill and had to pull over to vomit. She refused to take over the driving (again she is perfectly able to) and instead my ill father had to continue the drive home, occasionally pulling in en route to be sick.

I’d say, let go of your ownership of the front seat…

It doesn't bother me. My GC can squabble for England, so we stick one in the front.