Some might say that babes don’t earn their keep, what with their relentless consumption of Cheerios and diapers, but this week my peanut got me out of a traffic ticket. We were en route from day care and, eager to get home, I tried to catch the right turn light and basically ended up blowing through the red. As soon as I cleared the corner I got pulled over. Busted mommy.

Well, our babe loves emergency vehicles; she apparently couldn’t believe our good fortune that the flashing blues were right behind and for us. When the officer peered into the backseat Laurel said “policeman!” and offered him her red shovel (still in the car from our beach adventures last weekend). The officer asked about the shovel and Laurel proceeded to tell him about going to the beach, visiting Grandma and Grandpa, and the fact that there was too much water in the ocean. He was incredibly kind and patient in the face of all of this chatter.

I’d like to think that my clean driving record was my ticket to redemption, but really, the babe’s cuteness (documented here with her flower fingers) likely was the decisive factor in my only receiving a warning. I am truly grateful that the officer showed compassion towards the frazzled mom behind the wheel, and he still did his job even without issuing the ticket; I’ve been careful and law abiding ever since. Now I just have to figure out how to get the babe to stop saying, “Mommy ran the red light!”