Making the best of it

So, this morning as I was getting my kids dressed and ready to go, my son looked at me and said "go chariot ride, mommy?" (for the record, a "bike ride" is when they ride their bike/trike themselves, while a chariot ride is when me and/or my husband ride our bikes and pull them in the chariot.)

I told him "no, we're going to art class today".

"Ride chariot to art class mommy?"

"No sweetie, we're going to drive the car to art class."

An unconvinced 3 year old gave me a bit of a sulky look and walked off. While I changed his sister and got their jackets on, he proceeded to ask me 2 more times if we could go for a chariot ride.

When we went out to the garage, my daughter headed straight for the chariot, which was still put together and attached to my bike from our last ride. She climbed in and tried to put her helmet on. My unimpressed son went to his side of the car to get in.

I went to open the door. It was locked. No problem. He's been playing with buttons lately, and probably locked it before getting out last time. I hit the unlock button on my key.

Nothing.

I open the driver's side door and put the key in the ignition to turn it.

Nothing.

I suspiciously look back at the rear interior light. It's off, but sure enough, when I look at the position of the switch, it's in the on position. It's been 3 days since I've taken that car anywhere. More then enough time to completely drain the car battery.

The car is dead.

Somebody, not naming any names, (but the same boy who was adamant about a chariot ride is the one that sits within reach of that light switch) turned that light on and left it that way.

So, what now?

Both my kids are dressed and ready to go out. My daughter is desperately trying to get her helmet on and my son wants to go somewhere. I'm faced with a choice. I can get both kids back into the house to do... what? watch tv? Or, I can make the best of it.

So, what do I do?

I run inside to change my pants and grab a bottle of water. Then, I put their bags into the back of the chariot instead of into the car. I turn my daughter's helmet around to face forwards and I help my son with his.

Once the kids are strapped in and ready to go, I hop onto my bike and start to pedal. Too late to get to art class, but plenty of time to get to a park.