3 Year Old Logic

A few months ago, J spent the day in Salt Lake with me - at Uncle's house for the morning, then with me at work, then I went to Costco before heading home. He was getting pretty anxious to get home by the time we got to Costco, and I promised him we could go home after we got our milk. After I bought everything, on our way out of the parking lot I noticed that my gas was in the last quarter, and made a split-second decision to go get gas.

Once I filled up the tank, the truck wouldn't start. We'd had problems with the battery a few days before, but had thought it was just a charge issue that we'd taken care of. However, there was no power to the truck AT ALL. The nice gas attendent pushed the truck to the curb, and I called Ray. He told me he would drive back out to Salt Lake to try to jump start the truck, and if that didn't work then we'd call a tow truck.

I told J we needed to go back into Costco to wait for dad. We started walking across the parking lot, and he very sadly asked if we could go home! I told him the truck wasn't working, and that we couldn't go home.

"But, we can walk home!" He said, very hopefully. I looked up at the large mountain in between us and home, and laughed a bit as I said that we could NOT walk home. Then, J told me it was my fault the truck couldn't start - "You put too much gas in, Mom. That is why it won't start."

He was so miserable, walking through the parking lot with his little hand in mine, just wanting to be home! I felt so bad, I just agreed with him. I didn't want to argue with him. Ray found us reading books in Costco, we couldn't jump start the truck, so we had to wait for a tow truck to come to us, then Ray drove us home. J was SO HAPPY to get home!

This week, I stopped at Maverik 2 blocks from our house to get gas in the car. J was with me, and jumped out of the car while I was getting ready to fill up. Just teasing him, I asked him if I should put too much gas in the car. He looked up at me fearfully and shook his head no. "Would we be able to walk home if I do?" I asked, unable to resist the temptation to tease. He shook his head very seriously.

I got the gas running, and was waiting by the car. He slipped over to the next stall, and excitedly called out to me to come over to him. I joined him, and he pointed down the street in the direction of our house. He looked up at me excitedly. "Look!" I chuckled and said, "Oh, we could walk home?" He said, "Yes!"

Excitedly, I asked, "Does that mean I can put too much gas in the car!?!" Very quickly, he responded, "NO!"