Operation "ARM"

If you can remember a time when you rode in a car without a seat belt, then you are probably well acquainted with this not-so-covert operation whereby:


a) you got to ride in the front seat before the age of like 14


b) you may have even ridden in the front seat of a car with a bench and snuggled up next to the driver.


If the above are true, then you also were probably witness to operation ARM where the driver, most likely your mother, slammed your entire body against the back of the seat in one fell swoop--maybe someone pulled out in front of you, she took a turn too fast, or who knows what else. But you were pummeled by an outstretched arm with the elbow in full lock down mode and held there until the incident was over.


In our house, there was also another part of "operation ARM". (As a mother I now understand my own mom's motivation.) Here's the deal, my mom would suggest a nap under the guise of it being "special". We could nap in her room--a bonding experience of sorts. We'd lie down and she'd lob her arm over me. Then, within moments I'd start planning my escape. If I could just slowly inch my way down to the bottom of the bed, I could go play, or draw, or wreak havoc--I wouldn't be staring at this circa 1984 brown wallpaper and I wouldn't be "stuck" any longer. So, I'd patiently wait the 2 minutes it took my mom to fall asleep (She's one of those people that can fall asleep anywhere.) and then I'd start the slow creep to the bottom of the bed. Granted, I'm not sure how stealth my creeping was, but in my mind it was "Tom-Cruise-Mission-Impossible-Stealth". And, I'd creep for like 10 minutes...very s-l-o-w-l-y and THEN she'd tense the mamma arm and pull me back up..THWARTED. And, I'd begin again...I don't think I ever got free.


Like mother, like daughter...I tried the "arm lob" on Liam just yesterday.