Saturday, March 28, 2009

Car Trips- Josiah

I love cars.

I love riding in cars, because then I can look at other cars. And talk about them. About every single car I see. I am very good at telling my mom the color of every car, if it's a Mustang or not, if it has a spoiler, race car wheels or a snow plow on front... And if I don't know something about a car, I ask Mom. I mean, any little thing about any little car I see, I ask Mom. You'd be surprised at how little Mom knows about cars. I think sometimes I make her feel bad about herself, because she doesn't seem to even try any more. I actually think I hear her say "I don't know Josiah" before I finish the questions. And then she'll turn on some music and ask me to sing. But I persist. Because, as bad as I feel for hurting Mom's feelings, it's important for her to see her weaknesses, and see them as an opportunity for growth.

To make things worse, I've noticed that Mom also seems to be struggling with some of her time-management skills. Not so much that she's late or disorganized (although I think that's probably true, too...) but more that she seems to have lost her basic understanding of time. I mean, does she not understand what "soon" really means? For example, if I say, "Are we there yet?" she should not say "Soon!" unless she is the process of turning off the car and getting me out. Basic, right? But Mom will say, "Soon!" and then keep driving! I might take two or three breaths, and she's still not parked! She's still not releasing me from the prison of my car seat! But I'm a forgiving person, so I like to give her another chance. So I'll ask her again, and she says "Soon!" again and you know what- I take three more breaths and she's STILL DRIVING! We keep doing this, because, you know, I WANT my Mom to be okay, I want her to have a chance to get it right. I know she'll feel better about herself when she finally says, "Soon!" and it really is soon.

But you know what she told me today? That when I ask "Are we there yet?" that it SLOWS THE CAR DOWN! I know, right? That's horrible! I am just so worried about her. Because, you know I can't stop asking her about it. If I stopped, she'd never get better! But, well, if the car's slower, that means I end up asking more! Poor Mom! She's just slapped in the face with her shortcomings all day long. She did tell me that if I was quiet, the car would speed back up. This is good news- I just started whispering "Are we there yet?" It's a little more work, so I have to say it twice as often. But I figure out we'll pretty much break even there. Mom's so lucky that I take such good care of her.