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[quote=Anonymous]Thanks PP.  I appreciate the suggestions!  Unfortunately, she's fine on the Metro (and we do actually give her a little money for it each month), she just doesn't like having to wait and hates walking anywhere.  She's just the type of person that would prefer to drive everywhere (wish she'd said that when I told her we expect her to use public transportation as frequently as we do...).

I am going to consider how we can set up the car thing so that she doesn't have to ask every time - I'm tired of the awkward few seconds at least once a day where she asks, I have to think about whether I had planned to go anywhere while she's staring at me expectantly, and then say yes or no.  When I say no, you can see the disappointment like I'm ruining her afternoon.

What I really want to say is - are you going 1/2 mile away like usual and coming home before dark?  Is it sunny?  Then, please just walk or take the Metro (like DH and I do).  It's not that we're necessarily planning to go anywhere ourselves usually, but she wants to drive what would be a really short walk or Metro ride away almost every evening and most weekend days too, which leaves us without a car for emergencies or those random trips to get things done that we can only do on weekends.  I feel like unless I can say specifically "yes, we were planning on doing X", then she expects to be able to use the car at any point during the day.

I guess I just need to say that - it's not fair to be resentful over this if I haven't even mentioned to her.  And it's not just the car, it's other stuff too - ways I want the kids' day to go, cleaning up after she feeds them (I usually come home to breakfast crumbs all over the dining room), etc.  I just really struggle with giving direction.[/quote]

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