Why don't people know how to use 4 way stops?!

4 way stops aren't that complicated, are they? 

I do know that they give me anxiety. 

Every morning, while taking my son to school, I come across a 4 way stop.  It's a pretty simple concept.  Whoever stops first, goes first. 

The problem?  Nobody pays attention to who stops first. 

The people who stopped last want to go first and cut you off.  The people who stopped first wave you to go ahead of them. 

I JUST DON'T GET IT! It's not hard to know if you stopped before or after someone!

I get some sort of road rage when everyone is sitting at their stop sign, and nobody is moving. 

I'm scared to just go, because some other crazy person might just take me out.  Sometimes when I'm coming to a 4 way stop, I purposely slow down to let the other person stop first.  I figure this way, they know they stopped first.  It's not a race for me. Yet, somehow, they don't know that they stopped first!   

And God forbid we stop at the same time....that look of complete confusion will spread across their face.  I try to avoid this completely.  Nobody seems to remember that the person on the right goes first in this situation.    

So, I slow.....stop a few seconds after the first car stops, a couple seconds later a 3rd car stops, then the 4th.  The first car is still sitting there.....waving for me to go, when out of nowhere the 3rd car goes. 

What is wrong with people?  It's weird how smart people can become complete morons at a 4 way stop!

Does Utah not require driving school and passing tests to get a license?  Is it like this in every state?! 

 The 4 way stop is not that complicated!!  Pay attention people!

Deep breath Catrina, deep breath.........sigh  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4waystop.jpg

In case you were wondering where on Earth I get my information, I provided a link! (for those who could use some studying) :)

Crib Escape Artist

Preston just climbed out of his crib....not gracefully I might add. I hear a loud Preston scream coming from the bedroom....then a thunk, and a cry.  I ran up the stairs and meet Preston at the door to the bedroom, where he should not have been! 

I can picture the scene in my head.  Little Preston figures out a way to pull himself to the top of the rail.  Then he's scared and can't get down!  The screaming begins, then the fall to the floor.  Then he comes to the door crying to find Mommy.  

I opened the door and there's my little boy, holding his head and crying.  There's no bump or even redness that I can see.  Good thing little boys are so sturdy and resilient!  We walked and cuddled until he went to sleep.  I put him back in the crib....but now I'm not sure how safe that is!  We're gonna have to figure this one out.  He's not even 18 months old yet, I don't think he's ready for a big boy bed! 

I've got a smart little monster on my hands :) 

Any suggestions and/or funny stories of your own would make me feel better!  

A fine day

Sometimes I'm ok with being a working Mom, and other times I feel guilty about it. 

Saturday Jared took Josh to a wrestling tournament.  It was an hour and a half drive time to the tournament, and going to be an all day event.  I worked Friday night and needed to sleep Saturday.  Jared asked if I'd be ok with Caile babysitting while I slept.  Of course I didn't feel this was a great idea.  Caile, as great as she is with Peyton, is not a baby person!  She doesn't like baby drool.  The couple times she's changed Preston's diaper....she put it on backwards!  I laugh because it's much harder to put on backward than the correct way....but whatever.  She's not very patient with him, and I just knew that if she was home with him, I'd be awake every few minutes listening to him cry.  Let's face it, he's not an easy baby!  Anyway, Jared decided he could take Caile and the baby with him to the tournament.  That way she could watch him, but Jared would be there to help if she needed it....and it wouldn't keep me awake.  But that left my little Peyton.  It wouldn't be fun for him to hang out at the tournament, and Jared would be so involved with Josh that Peyton would be on his own.  Caile can't be responsible for the baby and Peyton at a place like that.  So, Peyton stayed home with me.  He's so good about it, and really a good kid.  It doesn't take much to occupy him.  He played his Nintendo DSi and the Xbox a little.  Really all I did was feed him breakfast and lunch and he was good.  The doors stay locked, and my bedroom door stays open so I can hear what's going on.  Like every mother knows, it's time to get worried when it gets quiet.  At around 1 in the afternoon, the house was extremely quiet, and I woke from a dead sleep to whispering in the hallway.  I jumped out of bed and asked Peyton who he was talking to, turned out it was himself.  He was playing with toys and trying to be quiet.  During my brief awake period, we could hear some of the neighbor kids outside playing.  Even though it's winter, it was a gorgeous day, very sunny.  All Peyton said was, "It sure seems like a fine day to play with friends."  First of all, that cracked me up!  A little mature statement for my 7 year old.  Then it just about broke my heart!  He wasn't whining, just letting me be aware of the inconvenience my work puts on him.  He knew he couldn't go play because I needed to sleep, and was being a good sport about it.....but he's 7!  He doesn't want to sit inside all day with his sleeping Mother. 

I am proud of my kids for the things they have to deal with, having a working Mom and Dad.  We do our best to make things good for them.  Sometimes it doesn't feel like enough....but they could have it worse.  At least I'm only gone on the weekends :)

Puppy Love

Peyton has had this cute little friend at school for the past couple years.  Her name is Katie.  They play together really well.  She comes over for play dates, and he goes to her house sometimes.  In Kindergarten, they used to come out of school holding hands.  Peyton even declared a couple times that he was going to marry Katie, "because she's cute."  I've told him that now is not the time to worry about getting married, so they can be just friends.  He still insists that she's his girlfriend.  While we were in CA over Christmas break, Peyton was asked about his girlfriend by the family.

Family: "So, Peyton, do you have a girlfriend?"
Peyton: "Yes"
Family: "What's her name?"
Peyton: "Katie"
Family: "What does she look like?"
Peyton: "Well, sometimes she wears 2 bows in her hair."

He notices the bows in her hair!  Awwww Puppy Love!