The car seat is a battle

We're in Nevada visiting family, and it's about 105 out. My wife and I loaded both kids up and went to the mall just to get everyone into the air conditioning. She fed the two-month-old while I took the little guy into the store to burn some energy.

That handoff is the whole thing right now. I couldn't do any of this on my own. We're a team, back and forth, one of us on each kid all day.

My runs out here have been good. The lift is the easy part. What I don't always do well is loosen my grip.

He found a tin cup by the camping tents and would not put it down. My first instinct was to steer him back to where things belong, in some order that only lives in my head. Instead I just said keep it.

He's going to do what he wants. My job is to guide him, not fence him in. I want him to feel free. Brave. To run around and have fun and still know where the line is, without me making the whole world one big rule.

And then there's the car seat. He hates it. Kicking, screaming, arching his back every single time. He's probably just uncomfortable and can't say so. I can't let him win that one, so I'm learning to hold the line on the stuff that matters and go with the flow on the stuff that doesn't.

So this week: pick one thing your kid wants that doesn't fit your plan, and just let him have it. The tin cup. The long way home. Whatever it is.

When did you let your kid do it his way this week instead of yours? Hit reply. I read every single one.

It all counts.
Tony