Backseat Driver

On a recent car trip, we pulled up next to another car at a stoplight. Max looked out his window and asked, out of the blue, "What is that white guy doing?" We were both taken aback, seeing as neither of us in our memory has ever referred to a person as a "white guy". "What??" we asked him, as we noticed that the person in the next car over was indeed a man with white skin.

"That guy, up there! What's he doing?" Max pointed past the car to the "Walk" signal on the light post. Suddenly we both understood... and we explained to him that the "white guy" is the one who tells us it's safe to cross the street.

That was the kickoff to a new hobby for Max. He has taken to examining road signs and asking what they mean. "What does that circle with an X and a P mean?" And once he learns their meaning, he explains it back to me every time he sees it. "There's the sign with a circle and an X and P. That means cars aren't supposed to park there." In the mall parking lot last week, he saw a No Parking sign near a valet stand, and he got very distraught that cars were parked there. He shook his finger at them as we passed, saying, "You aren't sup-posed to park there!"

I think he'll be a good driver someday. He reminds me to stop at every stop sign, and he tells me whether the stoplight is green-GO or red-STOP. He has even begun interpreting signs for himself. When he noticed a "right-turn only" sign (arrow curving right and the letters ONLY underneath), he postulated that the letters must spell "TURN" since the arrow was telling us to turn. And just today, we drove past two detour signs that had been moved to the side of the road, the big arrows pointing the direction we were currently driving. "Those two signs mean KEEP. GOING." he informed me.

Honestly, if his feet could reach the pedals, he'd probably be a better driver than me! He's at least got me beat in the attentiveness category. I've never run a red light, but it makes me feel good knowing that my three-year-old is looking out for me.