Zookeepers in Ferraris

"For crying out loud!"

They say it every time they see a Volkswagon, something they picked up from the boys in the neighborhood.

They're constantly on the hunt for Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborginis.  If it's a bright color, they almost always think they've spotted something magnificent.

A red car in the Panera parking lot..."Mommy, look!  A Ferrari!"

"That's a Kia Forte, Finny."

"Well, it looked like a Ferrari..."

At the bus stop last week..."A Porsche!  A Porsche!"

"Ford Taurus, Finn."

"Oh."

And the one time they actually did see a red Ferrari zooming down Kenwood Road?

"That's it.  Now we're famous!"  Famous just because they saw it.  Next stop:  Jimmy Kimmel.

Often times, the car is a stressful place for a momma with three kids or any kids really.  Finny is shouting at me from the backseat and I can't hear a word he's saying.  Charlie is talking incessantly and expecting validation for every last word he utters.  "Wendy's!  Mommy, Wendy's!  Can we go there?"

I've given up on trying to keep Gideon awake until we get home so he can get a "proper" nap.  And if we have to drive anywhere farther than 20 minutes, I have to have a full mug of coffee on hand, so that I don't join him.

I've daydreamed about owning a Limo.  Press a button, voila!  Privacy glass.  Then they could drive themselves crazy while I zone out to my music.  Then we'd certainly be on the fast track to Kimmel.  Limo drivers...soooo famous.

But yesterday morning, as we settled in for a 30 minute commute to West Chester for a doctor's appointment, I found some kind of magic Zen in my coffee mug and I actually found myself thoroughly entertained by the constant chatter.

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Look!  A guy is getting pulled over by a police officer and he's in handcuffs!  I hate police officers.  I never wanna be one when I grow up."

"Police officers?  No, Finn.  Police officers are good guys.  They're here to protect us.  That man was probably doing a very bad thing and that police officer is protecting us from him."

"Oh, I just thought police officers were annoying because they just pull people over all the time."

"No, no honey.  They're trying to protect us.  They're the good guys."

And then Charlie chimes in in his deep Charlie voice, Captain RandomPants:  "All right.  That's it.  I'm just gonna be a zookeeper when I grow up."

"Me too," says Finn.

And I smile and hold back a chuckle because there you have it, Zookeepers.  Of course.  A couple of zookeepers cruising around in Ferraris.  Sooo famous.