Just Pumping Gas

Just pumping gas this evening, enjoying a minute of peace and quiet to prepare for a busy evening of driving home, preparing dinner and encouraging the toddler to go to sleep on her own.

And what to my wandering eyes do appear?

My silver Bass Pro Shop windshield sun visor fluttering in the front seat. Lovely!

Annabelle has been able to unbuckle the harness portion of her car seat for awhile, but over the last few weeks, she has learned to push the button to unbuckle the entire belt. She knows that she's only allowed to unbuckle herself after the car has stopped. The danger in that is if she unbuckles herself when the car is stopped in a parking space for a minute, and we then decide to move on to another store for some reason. I've told her that Mommy needs to give her permission to unbuckle herself, but we're still working on that one. She's generally pretty good at following those directions.

But, apparently, since the car was stopped and the engine had stopped running, she felt the need to free herself.

"I want to put this up there," she said as she pointed to the windshield.

"No, we don't need that up right now. Annabelle, get back in your car seat NOW! You don't unbuckle yourself without Mommy telling you to do so. Get back in your car seat NOW! NOW Annabelle! NOW!"

In most ways, her independence makes my life easier. Well, in the long run, at least. But, for each new step, there is a new battle!