Turn Up The Volume

I know I complain about my car a lot, but there is one thing about it I love: the volume control on the steering wheel. Is it because I'm the safest driver ever and don't want my hands to leave the steering wheel? Or is it because I'm just that lazy and can't reach all the way over to the regular volume knob? I'd prefer not to answer but I think you all can guess what the true reason is. The point is, I love that tiny little arrow on my steering wheel that allows me to control the volume of my music. When Laura complains she can't hear the Backyardigans, I just crank it on up. If I think Laura may fall asleep, I can turn the music all the way down, or even use the super-handy mute button (alas, she never falls asleep). When Laura is being grouchy, I can just turn the music up and drown her out (kidding).

But I didn't realize just how much I relied on my volume control until a few days ago. I had picked Laura up from preschool and she was telling me about her day. She was going into great detail, telling me about what injustices had occured to her (lots, apparently), who got in trouble (not her), who the line leader was (not her, sadly), and was talking in the small, quiet voice that she gets sometimes. I muted the music to hear her better, but I still couldn't hear her, so I did what came naturally: I used my volume control to turn up the volume. On my daughter. For some weird reason it didn't work.