How NASCAR Drivers Are Born

The other day I was out in the backyard with the dogs. Across the street, our neighbor’s car was parked in their driveway, but the windshield wipers were flying, the hazard lights were flashing, the bright lights were blinking and the windows were rolling up and down.

I wandered back into our house and showed it to Chris.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s their kid. They let him play in the car every day.”

And sure enough, once I started paying more attention, I realized that almost every single afternoon the car seemed to have a little disco party right there in their driveway. And at the wheel was their 3 year old son. His dad sits in the passenger seat, usually reading the paper, looking like it is the most normal thing in the world for his son to have a $35,000 jungle gym. He even smiles and waves at you when you drive by, just like he would if he were standing beside a swing set in their backyard.

On one hand I think, “Oh my God! You can’t let a child play in a car!” But on the other hand I think, “Way to be a hands on parent!” I’m confused about the whole situation. Is it good parenting or irresponsible parenting??? All I know is that every time I drive by that Disco in the Driveway, I giggle.