All of our best conversations happen in the car. I hear about all of the daycare gossip. I hear about Alexis' plans for the future. Mostly, though, I hear all about how I'm doing it wrong.
"I don't think we should have rice for dinner."
"It's not a bath night."
"I don't want to clean up my dollhouse stuff."
Yesterday, Alexis spent the entire ride home telling me about how she thinks we need to buy a "TV car." At first I didn't quite know what she was talking about, but when she pointed to the car ceiling and said we should have a TV there, I figured it out. She wants to be one of the cool kids that watches TV everywhere they go because they have a TV that drops from the ceiling of the vehicle.
It ain't happening.
We do have a portable DVD player for her, but it's strictly reserved for long trips. Those are the rules that we are comfortable enforcing, so it sits unused in a closet most of the time.
Alexis knows those are the rules, so she decided to try to bring her negotiation skills to the conversation.
"We need a TV car so Daddy can watch the news when he drives," she told me. I thought it was interesting that she started out with trying to please he who was not there, but it was downright funny that she picked "news" over the never-ending stream of movies he really watches.
"I could watch Tom and Jerry!" she followed up. Apparently, there is some sort of bonus there that I'm not completely comprehending.
"You could watch a Mommy show!" Finally, she thought to kiss up to me.
"What's a 'Mommy show?'" I asked. I really had no idea.
Apparently, neither did Alexis. She couldn't think of a show that I would want to watch for several seconds. Then, she finally blurted out, "Dancing with the Stars!"
"Alexis, I don't like that show," I told her. I figured it was time she heard the truth.
"Yes, you do," she insisted.
I straightened her out, but only after several minutes of back-and-forth.
I might be doing it wrong, but I'd much rather go toe-to-toe with a 4-year old about the merits of having a TV in the car than have her turn into a zombie as she watches a TV in the car.
