Baby On Board

I hate driving in the city. On an open road, I have no problem. But in the city there are cars on both sides of you, threatening to come and smash you to bits at all times. This fear tends to make me a safer driver. For instance, I make sure to do a full stop at all 4-ways since I have seen dozens of people completely run right through the stop. I mean, its not that hard. But apparently people think that they can all go at once. Just because I am following the rules of the road doesn’t mean others are doing the same.

This brings me to my point. Driving in the city is stressful enough, but driving in the city with a baby is just over the top. There are times when it is peaceful (aka once Britanny has allowed herself to fall prey to the rocking motions of the car) but other times when I wonder whether the screams of the baby can be heard across the city. The car tends to put Britanny to sleep in the first 5 or 10 minutes of a car ride, but this sleep is fully dependant on the speed at which you drive. Britanny is our little speedster: if you drive at any speed lower than 50 km/h Britanny will instantly start to talk, as if to tell you that your speed is unacceptable. The slower you go, the more she starts to talk.

If you have ever driven with Britanny, you will begin to dread red lights. You know that the moment that the car stops Britanny will perk up to tell you to go. I suppose she doesn’t care about the rules of the road, as she isn’t the one driving. But I care. Especially since I would always like for us to arrive at our destination safely.

Whenever you stop driving and go over to see Britanny in her car seat, she ceases whatever she was doing (including crying) in order to whip out the biggest smile she can handle. Now this isn’t your typical baby smile. There is a clear subcontext to Britanny’s smile that says: “please, please don’t leave me in this wretched seat for another minutes. I promise I’ll be best baby in the whole wide world”. 

Driving with Britanny in the car is definitely a phenomenon. There are times when she is so quiet that you forget that she is there. And then there are the times when her screams are overpowering. I can only hope that one day Britanny will find the happy medium between the sleeping and screaming baby.