Driving Me Insane

Alex has learned the wonder of driving. Granted, he does not have the wind in his hair and an empty road ahead of him, but rather a dark garage and an exhausted adult in the passenger seat. We tried for an entire 72 hours to keep driving an activity exlusive to Grandma and Papa's house, but did we really think we would win? Silly silly Mommy and Daddy. We actually had a bet over who would give in first. I won't drag the suspense out for you...... I won! But only because I happened to be out at the time of a particularly spirited debate between the two of them. We have had similar debates that go something like this:

Alex: "I want to sit in Mommy's driving seat."
Me: "You know we can't do that when the car is parked on the street.
Only in Grandma and Papa's garage."
Alex: "I WANT TO SIT IN MOMMY'S DRIVING SEAT! OKAY?? OKAY?? OKAY??
OKAAAAAAAAY MOMMY??!!!????"
Me: "I said No."
Alex: "AAAAAHHHHhhhh. AAAAAAaaaaaahhhh. AAAAAHHHHhhh.....................I'm crying
Mommy................................AAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhh. AAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhh............................................I don't FEEL GOOD MOMMY."
Me: "I'm so sorry you don't feel good Sweetie. How about a big hug and kiss to help you feel better?"
(hug and kiss here)
Alex: (long pause, thinking about something)...... "I want to sit in Mommy's driving seat."

So is it any wonder Chris gave in? I am not judging him at all....just relieved that it was him, and not me, who gave up. I have a reptuation to uphold. So now, Alex is waking up at 6 AM and the first thing he says is, "I want to sit in Mommy's driving seat." We have resorted to using the timer as the bad guy. "Let's check the timer and see how much time is left before we can go drive.....hm. 60 minutes! What kind of fun can we have in our jammies inside that will take 60 minutes? How about watching Sesame Street?" And the only way to get him out of the car? Jelly beans. Just one will do the trick. "If you get out of the car without complaining, you can have a jelly bean. What color would you like?" Then he launches into describing what he does that we don't want him to do. He'll say, "I will say, AAAAHHHhhhhh more car, more car and that is 'plaining, right Mommy?" and then he trots his little butt out of the garage as if he doesn't have a care in the world. Meanwhile I am thinking about attaching my kitchen timer to some kind of necklace so I can wear it around my neck. Like a noose.

But I also recognize I have discovered his new currency. What is valuable and important to him is driving in my driver's seat. And so I am carefully planning how to use it (exploit? never.) to my advantage.