The fat man in the red suit comes in handy this time of year when you’re tired, hungry, and your child is having a public tantrum because they are tired, hungry, overstimulated, and sugared up. Caitlin has been a wee bit moody lately and I would blame it on PMS, only she’s 3. She had an F4 tornadic tantrum Monday in front of the hubby’s office (nice! embarassing!) because I put little sis in the car first. Man, what is it with me and my need to comply with child car restraint laws? But I digress. Logistically I cannot put a 30+ pound child her carseat while holding an extremely active 20+ pound chunk of baby with one arm without throwing out my back or nearly dropping the baby. So I open the door for Caitlin and while she climbs in I walk around the car and put baby sis in her seat, strap her in her carseat, and then walk around and strap Caitlin in her carseat. Maybe there’s a more efficient way to do this; if you know, do share. Caitlin was screaming, crying, and refusing to get in the car by doing that annoying arch the back movement that is innate to small children. I tried the age-old “Santa is watching you” threat, but to a 3-year-old who sees the world quite literally, that doesn’t quite fly. Then I told her she wasn’t going to get any toys from Santa if she didn’t act like a good girl and get in the carseat and she decided I meant business.