Driving with a Toddler

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking my toddler on a 3 hour drive to Bakersfield for the annual Hunting Weekend. What an adventure!

Scott already had plans for the weekend so it was just me and the baby in the back seat for a drive that seemed to go on forever.... It was then that this comic really hit home. As I am driving, my son is screaming, not just a slightly frustrated yell; Ear piercing, top of the lungs, I'm not happy and I'm going to make you miserable scream! I pass back his cup of juice and he throws it at me. While trying to stay calm, and stay on the road, I reach back to fish on the floor for his cup to make sure it is not spilling and keep it in reach for the next time I desire to have juice thrown at my head. I try for the Cheerios, now all over the floor, one last attempt for the blanket. This too gets thrown, but as I sit in frustration with this terror, he slowly picks the blanket up from the seat next to him when he thinks I'm not watching to hold on his lap.

The stress of the trip slowly went away as he calmed down with the blanket in his lap. As I drive down the 210 freeway, I watch my son slowly drift asleep through the rear-view mirror. I watch him and think to myself, "I love this child so much, how was my life complete without him?"

After only an hour nap, he wakes up while I am sitting in traffic and reminds me that he does not like to sit in the car for that long! Looks like it is time for a McDonald's break!

I think I need one of these signs!