Golden Rule: Thou shalt not drive while sleepy

Running errands is such an adventure when you're married to someone like Tanner. For instance, this morning I got up, got dressed, got the kids dressed, or rather they dressed themselves and I inspected, and made an iced latte because it's too sultry for cappuccino. Tanner gathered the things that we needed to mail. I found the stamps. He stamped the envelopes. He loaded the kids into the car while I made sure we had a bottle, diapers and wipes. Then we headed for the post office.

As we turned onto Texas and passed the first light, I asked, "Where are you going?"

He answered, "Post office."

"It's the other way."

"No, the one in Bryan."

"The one on 2818 is closer, honey."

A short pause. "Oh, you're right." So, Tanner made a u-turn.

I looked at him quizzically and asked, "When did you go to sleep last night?"

He shook his head. "I didn't. Stayed up. Finished all of my homework, so I only have a test to take."

"You mean you haven't slept at all?"

He nodded his head.

"Do you want me to drive?"

He shook his head. I didn't dare ask if he was sure. We made it to the post office safely. Then we decided that Sonic Burger would be an ideal place to do lunch. It was at Sonic Burger that I became worried. We placed our order, and as I turned around to talk to the girls, Tanner slumped forward in his seat, leaning over the steering wheel. I gave him a good punch in the shoulder and then yelled at him, "GET OUT!" Now, I wasn't angry, it's just that when Tanner falls asleep, you have to make A LOT of noise to get him to wake up. He's famous for sleeping through gunshots. So, I yelled and punched him a couple more times and he finally jerked awake.

"Huh?" he said. "What? What's wrong?"

Sigh...He smiled sheepishly because he suddenly realized that he had fallen asleep. We switched, and after lunch I drove to the bookstore. The girls had had enough of being in the car by then, and I knew they would make a ton of noise at home, so I dropped Tanner off at the house, and took the girls to the children's museum where we spent the afternoon reading, climbing, painting and dressing up.