Tonight's Car Conversations

Me: "Kaylen, your soccer practice is cancelled for tonight."
K: "Awww... Why?"
Me: "Because there are storms headed our direction, and you can't practice outside in lightening."
K: "Oh."
Josephine: "Is there a storm now?"
Me: "It will be soon. There was a thunderstorm when I left work, and it's coming this way."
J: "Oh."

... Topic Change ...

Me: "Kaylen, how was your day at daycare?"
K: "Good."
Me: "Uh, any more detail than that? Didn't you have visitors?"
(Spring break week they have fun activities for the school-age kids. Today's was a visitor from the Animal Rescue League.)
K: "Oh! Yeah! The Animal Rescue League came!"
Me: "Was there a speaker or any animals?"
K: "Yeah, there was this dog..."
Me: "THIS dog? What dog? Was there a speaker?"
K: "Yah, someone came with this dog..."
Me: "Oh, someone who works there brought a dog?"
K: "Yah, and he told the story about the dog."
Me: "So a guy brought a dog in for the visit?"
K: "No, it was a woman, not a man. And that dog LOVED me! He, like, came over to me right when Lisa (daycare teacher) said I could pet the dog, and I didn't even go up there, so I petted him and then he rolled over and I scratched his belly, then I scratched behind his ear, but that was it because I had to let someone else take a turn."
Me: "Sounds like fun!"
K: "Oh, and they gave me a sticker and a bookmark and another paper. Please keep me safe. Don't forget my tag and microchip. What animal am I?"
Me: "What?"
K: "What animal am I describing?"
Me: "Oh, well, that could be just about any animal."
K: "Cat. Keep me indoors. Because they have a lot of stray cats come in. Do you know what animal that was, Mom?"
Me: "Didn't you just say it was a cat?"
K: "Nope, it was a dog." (Her mind goes WAY too fast!)
Me: "OK."
K: "Oh, and they have all kinds of animals, and you have to be ages 10-15 to volunteer but you have to have a parent right there with you. And if you're ages 16-17 you can volunteer but you have to have a parent authorization. And you have to buy a t-shirt first that says ARL, and you have to go there for two hours first to watch a movie."
Me: "Oh, yes, probably a training to teach you how to be safe and how to handle the animals."
K: "Yup!"

... Topic Change ...

Me: "Oh! I just saw lightning, right over there."
J: "Mommy, did you see lightening?"
E: "Yes, she said she did, right over there."
J: "Mommy, did you see lightening?"
Me: "What did I just say, Josephine?"
J: "Right over there?"
Me: "What did I just say Josephine?"
J: "You saw lightening"
Me: "Then why are you asking me a question that I already answered?"
J: "I don't know."
(This is a typical conversation - she likes to ask questions about what I was just talking about to someone else.)

... Topic Change ... a couple minutes later ...

J: "Mommy, are we going fast?"
E: "No!" (He likes to disagree with her to make her mad.)
J: "Mommy, are we going fast?"
E: "No, Josephine, that car right by us!" (Now he's not just being disagreeable, he's stating a fact, but she won't listen to him.)
J: "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" (I was purposely ignoring her to see if she could come up with an answer on her own, but she's persistent!)
Me: "What?"
J: "Mommy, um, uh, um, are we going faster?" (I was going the speed limit across town.)
Me: "Faster than who?"
J: "Faster than udder cars?"
Me: "No, there's a car right by us that's been right by us for a long time, see?"
(Of course, as soon as I say that, the other cars around us all slow down to turn, then we go past them.)
J: "Oh... But they're going that way."
Me: "Yup, but when you asked, they were right by us, going the same speed."
(She doesn't respond - must've been too complex to process.)

... Topic Change ... as we're pulling into the driveway ...

J: "Mommy, can you drive backwards again?"
Me: (laughing) "No, honey, not tonight."
J: "No, I mean, in the garage."
(This is in reference to me backing into the garage yesterday - she panicked at first, then thought it was hilarious!)
Me: "I know what you mean. I'm not going to do that today."
J: "Awwww... Why not?"
Me: "Because I only did that because I needed to unload the groceries and that made it easier.... anyway, I'm not going to be pulling into the garage today anyway," as we approach our house.
J: "Why?!" (panic-stricken again!)
E: "Uncle Duke's Here!" (He's here working on our basement, and has backed partially into our garage with his truck and with the tile saw set up in the garage.
(All the kids cheer!)

(Fun conversations, but Daddy wonders why I'm exhausted just from the 10-15 minute drive home from daycare! He doesn't frequently experience this trip.)