This morning I spent a good part of my time listening to my son hone the skills of his latest obsession – backseat driving.  “Mom, why aren’t you going?  Are you gonna pass that car?  Why are you in this lane?  Why did you speed up so fast?  I don’t think this is the right way.  Mom, the car in front of you is moving now.  Why did you slow down?  Why aren’t you going that way?  Are you speeding?”

For twenty minutes, this interrogation continued before reaching our destination.  Given the (well-hidden) fact that patience is not my strongest asset, I found myself moving quickly to my breaking point.  But then, swiftly and instinctually, like a gazelle sensing the imminent danger of a hungry lioness on the prowl, he asks, ever so cautiously, “Mom, do you think we could listen to a Sara Groves CD?”

And just like that, harmony is restored, patience resumes, and the six-year-old highway expert ultimately saves himself from imminent destruction and lives to see another day.  “Why yes!  Yes, my dear boy, we most certainly can.  Aren’t you just precious.”

I have brilliant children.

Editor’s note: Some details of this story may have been slightly embellished for effect.