Cute, Not So Cute 3rd edition

Backseat driver

 
Cute:
It has just been the last couple months that Belle has begun to comment on things going on outside the car while we are driving.  The first time it happened she looked straight out her window to the side of the road and yelled, "Oh no! We're driving on the grass!"

Just yesterday we were driving and she looked ahead of us and quivering with excitement she exclaimed, "We are going up up up that big hill!  THIS IS SO FUN!"

Not So Cute:
She clearly doesn't understand the rules of the road.  Or maybe physics.  Or something.  Because often we will be driving along listening to Dalton chatter about how many points he has for finding Slug Bugs, Mustangs, PT Cruisers or HHR's (You'll only think this is weird if you don't have a little boy obsessed with vehicles..) when Belle will suddenly shriek, "WATCH OUT, MOMMY! THAT TRUCK IS GOING TO BONK US!"

As I look frantically around for this truck that is going to crush us I notice a small pickup truck on the other side of the road driving along calmly in its own lane. 

After I stop shaking I try to explain to Belle that not every car that looks like it's coming toward us is going to hit us. 

She's started to do it a lot.  Sometimes it's just a frantic shout of "MOMMY! BE CAREFUL!" that apparently nothing has triggered.  Sometimes it's "MOMMY!  YOU MUST SLOW DOWN! YOU MUST SLOW DOWN!" when I'm driving 25 miles an hour through the downtown area of our town. 

The big problem with all this shouting is that I don't feel like I can categorically disregard shouts like that from my passengers.  So each and every time I have to look around wildly for the source of the supposed danger before I can rule out that there really isn't a fire truck about to run into us.

And it stresses me out.


Pteranodons

Cute:
Ok, I'm working on what is cute about this next one....Hold on...I'm sure there's something...

I know!  It is cute when my kids pretend to be stuff.   Especially when they pretend to be some other set of siblings and have little pretend adventures together. 

Lately they've been pretending to be pteranodons from Dinosaur Train.

Not So Cute:
Have you ever watched Dinosaur Train?  It's a little show about a pteranodon family (flying dinosaurs) and their adopted son who is a tyrannosaurus rex. 

Fine.  They're a couple little siblings that learn about different types of dinosaurs and have barrels of fun comparing and contrasting things. 

The Not So Cute part is that these pteranodons make a pteranodon noise.  It's like a ear-splitting squawk.  A terrible, dinosaur, ear-splitting squawk.  And my kids have decided that when we are all "TEAM PTERANODON! HOORAY!!!" that it just doesn't feel real unless they squawk before everything they say to each other.  And sometimes after everything they say.

(SQUAWK) Hey Shiney! What are you doing?
(SQUAWK) Playing with trains, Dawn. What you doing? (SQUAWK)
(SQUAWK) Drinking juice
(SQUAWK) Cool.

Hundreds of squawks every day. 

And it's driving me crazy. 

I've even had to make rules. 
NO PTERANODON SQUAWKS IN THE CAR. 
NO PTERANODON SQUAWKS WHEN WE ARE IN THE SMALL BATHROOM TOGETHER.
NO PTERANODON SQUAWKS AT THE TABLE WHILE EATING.


I think I hate pteranodons.   I am glad they are extinct.