On the way home

Yesterday after giving piano lessons, I packed Story and Ivy into the car and started the 15 minute drive home. Ivy had spent the day with her school at a pizza place. Story had spent the day doing whatever she does at daycare.

Then, I realized that we had left Ivy's prizes from the pizza place at the house where I had just been giving lessons. Dilemma: do I go ahead and tell her and watch her scream and cry in the car? Or wait until she realizes it on her own and then screams and cries?

I decided to risk it. Better crying in the car than all evening. "Ivy," I tentatively began. "Where are your prizes?"

Ivy looked up at the rearview mirror. "Oh," she said softly, "I think I left them at Gretchen's." Wait a minute. This was not the response I was anticipating at all. Where was the crying? The howling? The insistence that I drive back there this minute?

"Ivy, I'll call them and tell them to bring your prizes to school tomorrow."

"Okay."

I was shocked. Could it be that my little girl was maturing? Nah. I pondered this for a moment, then looked back up at the rearview mirror to check on her again.

Ivy's eyes rolled back in her head and she closed her eyelids. Oh, no! She was falling asleep!!! At 6 P.M.!!!!! In the car with a million errands to run!!! It had to be stopped.

"Ivy! IVY!!! IVY!!!!!!!!" Small flutter of eyelids.

Then, I did the thing that comes naturally for a parent: reaching behind the seat and tapping her on the legs. "Ivy!! Wake up!!" I looked in the mirror again. Her head was rolling back and forth amid the head bumpers on the booster seat. Oh no! This wasn't going to be good! I knew as soon as I got in to town that I'd have to wake her up, and then I'd get the crying and screaming I was concerned about.

I tried moving the steering wheel back and forth a bit. Nothing. I turned the radio up really loud. Nada. Finally I said, "Story! Wake Ivy up!!"

"She sweeping."

"I know! Wake her up?" Story just giggled and went back to watching Tom and Jerry.

I sped down the road towards Rite Aid. In the parking lot, I jumped out, threw open her door, let loose her seatbelt and shook her. "Ivy! IVY!!" This was a disaster. See, not many people without young kids remember or realize this, but when your child takes a nap at 6 p.m. in the evening, there will be a price to pay about 11 p.m. that same evening unless you can keep them asleep. Which I couldn't unless they were both asleep.

Ivy opened one sleepy eye. "No, Mommy. I'm sleepy." After more shaking, messing with her hair and threats, I finally told her she could ride on my back into the store. So, she grabbed onto my neck and plopped herself onto my back...and fell asleep again.

I eventually walked into the store holding the hand of my three year old and with a sleeping mass of 5 year old loosely gripping my neck. The guy in the Dayquil aisle looked at me like I was a freak.