“But why do we have to wear seat belts, mom?” If you have four and six-year-old daughters, you know that every day is an endless, repetitive parade of questions.

“Because it’s the law,” I explain for the eleventy-thousandth time.

“What’s a law?” they demand, for the thirteen-bazillionth time.

“A rule that everyone has to follow,” I drone.

“But what would happen if we didn’t wear our seat belts?” they want to know.

“We could get a ticket, and if we got in an accident you could get very badly hurt.”

“And then you’d be sad?”

“Of course I’d be sad! I’d be heartbroken! What’s the most important thing in the whole world to me?”

Deafening silence. A shrug. Confused looks.

This is not a trick question!

Pause, breathe, regroup. “What does mommy want more than anything in the world?”

“A Range Rover?”

And I thought my kids didn’t listen to a word I said.

Do your kids listen to a word you say? On second thought, never mind. I don’t want to know.