"Mommy, Look." "Mommy, Watch."

I will be the first to admit that I have many pet-peeves.  However, I only have one when it comes to my children; because quite frankly I love their little quirks and all that is them.  But this one little thing…this one little habit…this one small request…is enough to send me from calm and collected mother to a frustrated mother in one simple swoop.   

“Mom, look.”  “Mom, watch me.”  Those little words while we are at home are precious to my ears but I lose all control when I hear them while I’m driving.  I have had “the talk” about how it isn’t safe for mommy to turn around.  With the crazy city traffic and that fact that 90% (who am I kidding, 98%) of drivers are either talking on their phones or texting – I have to be a defensive driver.  It isn’t farfetched to say that I have a near miss accident on the freeway nearly every week.  People do not pay attention and because of their lack of interest in what they are doing; I have to focus all my attention on the road.  I love to talk to my kiddos and I always encourage Boo to “use her words” to describe to me what she is doing.  I get some frustration back from her because well, that isn’t what my three year old wants to hear.  I know what she is saying is important, but gosh darn it, I drive to arrive and that means having my eyes on the road 100% of the time so that I can “Mommy, look” and I can “Mommy, watch me” when we get to our destination.

Do I need to be frustrated with my child for what she says?  No.  It is just purely a reaction to the circumstances I am in.  Yet, I’m hoping as we turn this curve to age four that she better understands where mommy is coming from because I will never turn around, no matter how critical she feels it is to show me something…I love them too much.