We’ve all heard about parents turning around on a long car trip when they realize a favorite blanket or binky has been left at home. Fortunately my kids have never used a pacifier and don’t have a favorite toy or blanket… but they sure make a lot of demands and, right or wrong, Mommy often tries to meet them. Take the treat bowl, for example. I started using a little bowl of goodies as an incentive to get Charlotte to cooperate when I’m rushing to get her dressed and out the door for school. Now she starts asking for her treat bowl, along with requesting specific items, long before it’s time to get in the car. Once I do get both children strapped in their carseats, I probably make 5-10 trips back and forth from the garage to the upstairs and downstairs inside before we can leave. The most intense part of the process, concocting the treat bowl. Along with two gummy children’s vitamins, depending on what’s in the cabinet, I’ll mix in a few Teddy Grahams, fruit snacks or Whales (like Goldfish). If some candy is available, it better make the bowl. Once I hand it over, Charlotte inspects the contents like an airport luggage screener! Thomas is starting to take note of the fact he’s stuck with a milk bottle and she gets all the good stuff. So I try to give him one or two pieces of something, much to her dismay. And the car DVD player is still getting a lot of use… but now Charlotte insists Thomas watch The Wiggles while we play her Disney Playhouse CD in the car player. He may be only 15 months, but he knows when the songs don’t match the video. He squawks! I don’t comply with every single request, but if it’s workable and doesn’t involve too much extra effort I’ll usually cave and make it happen. The recent Halloween party we attended suggested on the invite that parents wear costumes. Yet Charlotte did not want me to dress up. So, I didn’t. I explained this to one mom, adding, “Yes, a 3-year-old runs my life.” She didn’t disagree.
Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 15
This post was written by tthomas on October 27, 2009
Too funny! I’m getting a total visual of you running all over the house with a treat bowl in hand. I had to laugh when you said “a 3 year old runs my life”! Trust me, they’ll do it until they’re off to college. I had one of those too. And yes, I’m sure it was my own fault..oh well memories now!
Tara, We never had a treat bowl but the twins did have a few car rituals. We had car blanky’s My mother in law hand sewed two wonderful blankets that were smaller than the average size and just right for in the car to be balled up as a pillow or used as a cover. We went everywhere with them and they seemed to be a real comfort. Recently I was cleaning a closet and found them and one of the boys saw it and said, “Hey my car blankie” I said, “Yes just leave it alone, I am gonna use it for something” He said, “OK just don’t get it dirty” Boy have times changed. Good luck with the treat this morning…
Doug
Traditions and memories….this is where it begins. My boys each had a child size quilt made by their grandmother and patches that my grandmother hand-stitched. I should have been smart and put it up but my oldest son had to have his blanket to sleep. He loved the little yarns on it which to this day we call “tickles”. He will still today twist the tickles on a quilt with the yarn ties. Needless to say, one blanket is in perfect shape, the other only has a small piece left which I have lovingly tucked away in my memory chest. My youngest son had a little yarnlike ball (like the ones you used to find on the stocking caps) and a teddy bear–Buddy bear. We still have Buddy bear and I think the yarnball is somewhere. Sweet times….
Thanks for being so honest and not sugar coating the way things are. By being honest you let us all know we weren’t the only ones and we are able to be ourselves.
When my oldest son (who is now 24) was young, he called his blanket his “bank.” During a road trip with my friend and her kids, my son started calling for his bank. My friend and I knew what this meant. Her son (who was a teenager at the time) was sitting next to my son and offered to get his “bank” which we told him was in the diaper bag. He searched the bag and after a few minutes said “I see everything in this bag but a bank.” It was then that my friend and I realized he was looking for an actual “bank” (as in piggy bank) instead of a blanket. We still laugh about that to this day — so see, you are creating good memories. Now my younger two (who are teenagers) are the ones making the trips between the garage and the upstairs and downstairs to get their favorite gadgets that they feel they must have on the smallest of trips even while I stand by waiting to make sure they have what they feel they need.
Just think of the exercise you’re getting, though!
This just made me laugh out loud! Your stories are so cute and are so true to life. Thanks for your honestly! I do, even with my 11 and 13 year old children, feel the same way and I would not change a thing! We’ll never get this time back with our kids! So 10 trips back to the house some days are worth it!
How do you look so calm on the news? (ha)
p.s.– Don’t forget to put more goodies on your grocery list for the treat bowl!
Kathy
My daughter had a bear named “Boy”. He finally got so thread bare that I had to make him a “jump suit” just to keep him in one piece, she still has him and he’s not much to look at, but he’s a keeper. I had a monkey when I was little, apparently it fell out of the car door or so I was told as I don’t remember it and was run over by the tire, it had a plastic like face and that got smashed in and cracked, but I loved him anyway and I do still have him.
If you can get Thomas to keep them on, wireless headphones work great. He can listen to his show while she listens to whatever she thinks needs to be playing.