Sometimes, when I’m feeling patient, I humor my daughter and let her sit up in the front seat with me closeby. She tries to put the seatbelt on and taps on the radio. She pretends to control the wheel and likes to explore the seat. I don’t know what’s exciting about it, but she finds it pretty neat.

Well, now my two year old has entered this stage where every time she leaves the car she wants to sit in the front seat. Every single time.

I don’t know if it’s the buttons or the wheel that fascinates her. I don’t know if it’s because she sees us driving and wants to be like us. But I do know, every time she gets unbuckled from her car seat she will either 1) climb over the barrier into the front seat or 2) scream her head off and deadweight in a tantrum.

The other day, after an outing, she made it across the barrier and into the front seat. These cars and their buttons are like toys to toddlers. She found and pressed the button for the engine. I moved to the driver’s side, annoyed to find the door locked. Thankfully, I had the key around my neck and was outside of the car. Also, she needs to hit the brake to start the engine, so the car moving wasn’t a concern. I just needed to get her out.

Mommy panic set it. I set everything down, opened the trunk, pushed the back seat down, climbed through the trunk to turn the car completely off. I’m sure she found it all very amusing. I was not laughing. I’m ready for her to find a new obsession.