Hi! Power struggles are tough. In general, it sounds like this pattern needs to be interrupted. So, that might mean that instead of waiting in the rain, you get in the front seat and flip through a magazine or something while he’s crawling around the car. When he’s ready he can ask for your help. Sounds like giving in, but really, you’re just refusing to participate in the power struggle. You’ll still get what you want (him buckled in is seat), you’ll just be less stressed in the process.

Another option would be to plan ahead. Tell him what you expect and get his buy-in, so “we’re going to run into Target now, do you want to jump out of the car or do you want me to lift you out of the car like an airplane?” Then, you can do it again on the way back to the car, “We need to get going quickly today, so should we pretend that the car is a space ship and we’re buckling our seatbelts for takeoff? I’ll count down from 10 while you get buckled.” You may also want to offer time to crawl around the car once you get home.

Finally, you could talk about it with him. “So, getting in and out of the car is really hard for us. Can you help me think of a way to get buckled and unbuckled quickly?” Offer a few silly ideas at first, then one or 2 serious ones. See if he can think of any to add. Then pick one to try. Usually, once the novelty of the situation has gone away, it’s no longer an issue.

I hope you find something that works!

Thanks for commenting! True…life is busy and those teachable moment’s slip away from us sometimes. Like you said, it’s a goal to work toward. Good luck!