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.

Car Camping

Yesterday Liam and I did a little bit of car camping, not that whole taking a tent into the woods kind of camping. More along the lines of napping in our car outside the front door of our house kind of car camping. But, it worked for him so it worked for me.

The whole thing happened because we went to the O's game in 106 degree heat (at least that's what my car temperature do-hickey thing said) at his regularly scheduled nap time. And, Little Dude had impeccable timing yesterday as he wanted to leave after the bottom of the 4th--we made it back to our car just as the flood gates opened. Way to go, little man!

Liam never, or almost never, falls asleep in his car seat. He hasn't been a fan of the car since the day we left the hospital. Usually he is too busy making a fuss about being "stuck" to get any shut eye. But as the rain brought the temperature down and white noise to our car he fell asleep just the other side of the tunnel about 15 minutes from our house. Once, we got home the car thermostat read 77 and I decided that since I was near 100% sure if I tried to move him at all he would wake--I laid back my seat, opened the window and we dozed 6 feet from our front door for over an hour.

It was actually really nice. The sound of the rain. Taking some time to chill together. If felt like a really good choice. It was a really good choice.

And, the look on his face when he woke up and realized he was still in the godforsaken car was priceless. He opened his eyes, looked around and said, "Make. It. Go.". It was fun to be able to tell him that he could get out, no more going, no more "stuck"--let's go in and find daddy.