Every parent has been there. Trying to concentrate on driving while your kids are playing up in the back of the car.
But after two near-accidents, and a four-year-old daughter who was making a habit of getting out of her seat mid-travel, one desperate Perth mother sought help from an unlikely source - her local police station, Mundaring Police.
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Mundaring Police parent patrol
Amanda Lawes contacted Mundaring Police when she was having problems with her 4 year old daughter's behaviour, so they told her to come down to the station.
"I brought my daughter [Alison into the station] on a day when we'd been to Canning Vale and back going down Roe Highway and she had some toys with her and she was throwing them at me and she was punching her brother... I almost had an accident twice on the way there and the way back," mother Amanda Lawes said.
Mundaring police senior constable Andrew Baker admitted having Alison come into the station was a bit of an unusual 'job', but that officers were more than happy to help.
"Amanda came in saying her daughter had been playing up in the car, getting out of the seatbelt and throwing things around and she was just asking if we could help her out," Senior Constable Baker said.
"I went out initially to have a chat with Alison and tried to put on my parenting hat I guess, it was probably a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.
"The Sergeant came out and helped and we were able to eventually calm Alison down and express to her how important it was to wear her belt and stay in the seat."
The station's willingness to go above the call of duty has led to it being nominated for the WA Police Excellence Awards.
Mundaring Police officer-in-charge Jeffrey Taylor, who was one of three officers who talked to Alison, said it wasn't very common for parents to bring their children into the station, but that it did sometimes happen.
"Seeing Ali today, she's definitely a changed girl, a lot different to last time so I think we had a bit of a win," he said.
"We're definitely approachable and if anyone's having any issues, obviously we wear many hats so we can help in many ways."
Ms Lawes said she was impressed how Sergeant Taylor got down to Alison's level and spent up to an hour trying to calm her down and teach her about car safety.
"He just caught on and knelt down in front of her and said, 'look what's going on here, you need to be a good girl when mum's driving the car because if you aren't, accidents can happen'," she said.
"They spoke to her directly, they didn't ignore her or say anything that would scare her, and they also made sure to reinforce that police were really nice people and you can go to them if you need help.
"She's been pretty good ever since, give-or-take the odd melt down."
Nominations for the WA Police Excellence Awards close 5pm, October 2.
WAtoday is a sponsor of the awards.