Monitoring

Jillian decided that it is her job to monitor her parents, and she keeps us pretty accountable these days. In regards to me, she is vigilant about making sure that I obey traffic signals. Not long after she became aware of the difference between red and green lights, it began. A few examples:

-While waiting to turn left onto the highway (red light) and the cars in the right lane had a green light...
J: "Mom, go! Your light is green."
"No it's not, Jillian. Ours is red"
J: "Yes it IS! All the other cars are going! Go!"
So we had to have a little lesson about turn lanes.

-After making a legal right turn on a red...
J: "Mom!!!! You went on a red light! You can't do that!!"
"I didn't run a red light Jillian. In some situations, you can stop, look both ways, and turn right on a red light."
J: "NO. The light is red! You can't do it. You didn't follow the rules, Mom!"

-While sitting through a green light to make a left turn (no green arrow) and not being able to turn...
J: "Mom, the light is green, you have to go"
"Well, Jillian, I can't because there are other cars coming and we would get hit"
J: "Yes, you can. Go! The light is green""
"Jillian, do you want us to get hit?!? I can't go when there are cars coming, even if the light is green."
I hear a big, exasperated sigh from the back seat.

-After observing a yellow light...
J: "What is that orange light for?"
"It sort of looks orange, doesn't it? But it is actually called a yellow light."
J: "No, it's not. It's an orange light"
"You can call it orange, but it is considered a yellow light for traffic purposes."
J: "It's ORANGE!"
 Pretty sure I've decided it's Matt's job to teach her to drive someday.

Speaking of Matt, she had her eyes on him a lot this weekend. He recently ordered a trailer hitch to put on the back of my car, since it can haul up to 1500 lbs. He figures this will be an easy way to be able to haul yard waste and other things we can't just set on the curb to the dump (and eliminate paying someone to haul it off, as we always have to do) or bring home patio furniture, etc (instead of always paying for delivery). This is really a ploy to avoid getting himself a new car (yes, he STILL drives that '97 Cavalier he had in college...do not get me started) , or actually getting me a bigger car and taking my CR-V. I digress...the point is that Matt decided to install the hitch on his own (instead of paying someone), and had to do some digging behind the paneling in the cargo area to find the wiring for the brake lights. Jillian was outside playing as he did this, and she immediately started drilling him..."Dad, does Mom know you are doing this? I don't think Mom would like this very much, Dad. Does she know you are tearing her car apart?"
A little while later, they were in the detached garage building cleaning it up. Matt decided to measure the girls and mark their growth on the wall. Jillian immediately inquired in her usual dramatic fashion, "Dad! Does Mom know you are writing on the walls? That's against the rules. Does Mom know you are doing this?"

I guess I run a pretty tight ship--I'd never know it, though, because it's not often that our little hall monitor actually follows the rules herself....but now I know she's at least listening!