One-Upped by Grandma

You try hard to raise a good kid.  You expect him to be polite.  You expect him to listen.   So when you go to the store and he wants to ride in one of those cars strapped to the front of a shopping cart, you expect him not to try and climb on top of it while you're pushing it.  For one thing, those things are longer than a Cadillac and handle about as well as a tank.  There's nothing worse than trying to maneuver one of those things around a promotional display of 4th of July hamburger buns (only $0.49 each when you buy 8 packs!) in the middle of an aisle.  I tell him to stop climbing on it.  He says it's dirty, and he's just washing his car.  Cute, but not acceptable while it's in motion.  So we stop to pick up something.  Immediately he stands up and I have to wait for him to wash the hood.  At this rate, we're going to be at the store forever.  So I say no more washing the car.  Then he stands up and sticks his head out the side and tries to touch all the little cards on the shelves promoting deals.  I say no more standing up, so he tries to do it sitting down.  He's like the velociraptor in Jurassic Park - testing every part of the fence until he finds a weakness.  It's at this point that I realize he is actually listening, and I have to remind myself that 3 year old's can't interpret the meaning behind what I'm saying.  He doesn't understand that "don't stand up" really means "sit there and drive the damn car and THAT'S IT." 

In other news, yesterday Jonah cried when I left for work because he wanted to play with me.  That makes you feel good as a parent.  Last night, grandma came to stay with us.  She's watching him today because our daycare provider is on vacation.  He runs over and gives her a hug and she says "hey buddy, are you ready to play with me?" to which Jonah replies "Yeah!  Dad, when are you going to work?"  I'd only been home from work for roughly two hours.  Nothing like a grandma to burst your parenting pride bubble. Although since he was adamant that he get to share a room with Grandma last night instead of ending up in our bed like usual, I think I'm ok with it.