Sometimes I Understand Why People Do Crazy Things
"Why did you turn off the music?" Alexis bellowed from the back seat.
"I'm trying to hear a sound," I replied. I had heard a faint thumping sound coming from the rear passenger side of my car. I was relatively certain that it was ice and snow that had accumulated in the wheel well, but if I was dragging a dead moose around from my tail pipe, I wanted to figure it out.
"What sound?" Alexis asked.
"A sound the car is making," I replied. I still hadn't managed to hear it very well. You know, what with all of the CONSTANT CHATTER FROM THE BACK SEAT.
"I don't hear anything," Alexis replied.
"Me either," I told her. "It might be because I can't hear anything but you, though," I threw in.
"See! There's no sound," she said. "Can you turn the music back on?" Alexis asked.
"After I figure out what that sound is, I will," I told her.
"What sound?" she asked.
I blinked. And again.
"Alexis, the car is making a sound and I need to hear it. Give me just a second," I told her between clenched teeth.
"I don't hear any sound," she reported.
I started to look around for Abbot and Costello. Maybe they were stuck in my wheel well.
"Shhh . . ." I told Alexis.
"Why?" she asked.
"I'm trying to listen to the car," I replied. I was pretty sure we had been having the exact same conversation for her entire life by that point.
And we had.
"Why are you trying to listen to the car?" she asked. If she hadn't been so genuinely curious, I would have thought she was trying to gnaw a hole in my brain.
"The. car. is. making. a. sound. Can you be super duper quiet for just a second so I can figure out what it is?" I asked.
"OK," she replied. She paused for a moment then continued, "Can you turn the radio back on?"
On and on we went. I finally decided it was indeed snow and ice in the wheel well that was causing the noise, but not before my gray hair count quadrupled.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Reader Comments (20)
Oh my gosh! She sounds like many of my dementia patients. Same thing over and over and cannot be redirected. I feel ya.
Bwhahahaha! This literally made me laugh out loud. Mostly because it reminds me of conversations from my car sometimes.
Thank you for confirming that I'm not the only one who has these conversations. Ask. Answer. Repeat. Ask. Answer. Repeat. Augggghhhh!!! The cycle never ends. : )
That about sums up every conversation I have with Bear.
I'm laughing, but I'm not.
not laughing at you. nope, not at all.
Hmmm ... Maybe it is a good thing that my son doesn't talk yet!! ;)
I am sorry to be laughing but I have similar conversations in the car almost daily. I am screwed when the other two begin to talk...
I recently almost sent myself over the edge trying to figure out a new clicking noise coming from under my seat. Someone drove my car and moved the seat, creating this bizarre click. I figured it out, but know exactly how you feel!
Ahhhh, kids! :-)
She and Sabrina would either be BFF or would despise each other because they are so much alike.
LOL. "I don't condone child abuse - but sometimes I understand it." ;) *giggle*
No, seriously...I know exactly what that's like. Now that Kennedy is such a chatterbox we end up in conversations like this. It's so FUN. *dramatic eye roll*
Completely unrelatd (because it makes my head hurt, too) - I need a mirror wall for Micah. Or maybe I'll just send him to your house.
I know this won't help, but I still have those conversations with my 9 & 12 year-olds. Sometimes they just don't get it.
Ugh.... This will be us soon. B's new thing is "Huhhhh?" Fourteen thousand times. I've decided that after the third time, I'm not answering anymore.
Most of our conversations go something like this... "Where are we going?" "Mimi's house." "We're going to Mimi's house?" "Yes." "How do we get to Mimi's house?" "In the car." "But, how do we get there?" "On the road, up the hill." "Oh... Mommy?" "Yes?" "Where are we going?" Lather, rinse, repeat. It usually ends with me yelling, "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and then taking multiple deep breaths to try and relieve the pressure in my brain! I've tried asking her, "What did I just tell you?" instead of continuing to answer her questions, but she usually just says, "I don't know." AHHHHH!!!!!
LOL. We had the same conversation last night, but we were trying to listen to see if Parker was gagging and going to vomit. Again.
*headdesk*
This is why God invented the Quiet Game. "Let's see who can stay quiet the longest! First person to talk loses! GO!" Of course, it only buys about 30 seconds, but hey - sometimes 30 seconds is the difference between keeping your sanity and Mama pulling over to the side of the road and running screaming outta the car. Ahem.
Oh is that familiar!!!
@Kathy--I don't think I like you very much right now. I was hoping those conversations would magically end when Alexis turns five. WAY TO CRUSH MY HOPES AND DREAMS.
@Katie in MA--Alexis sucks at the Quiet Game. SUUUUCKS. She has figured out to just talk immediately and accept defeat so that she can talk again. o_O