Prior to having kids, I took for granted how easy it was to leave the house or to have any time alone. When you are by yourself or in the company of other adults, it is easy to quickly get into your car and go. When you have kids, leaving the house is never easy. On a daily basis, I feel like a circus clown that gets in and out of the car several times before I even leave the driveway. And when you are a parent, there is rarely a moment that you are alone.
It was a normal weekday morning and I was getting ready to drive to school, a task that had taken me all morning to prepare for. I was starting to pull out of the garage when my middle son said, “Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!” So I am faced with a decision, to take him inside to the bathroom or make him try to wait until he gets to school.
I want to scream, “WHY OH WHY DOESN’T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME WHEN I ASK THEM TO TRY TO GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE WE GET INTO THE CAR!!” But instead, I take a deep breath, calmly take a sip of my almost cold coffee and look back at the precious little boy that is squirming in his seat. One look at his face and I make the decision that any mother would.
I push the garage door opener again, to close the door. With the keys out of the ignition, I take off my seatbelt and help my four year old out of his seat. We might be late for school but I couldn’t let my son ride the whole way to school being uncomfortable. I announce to the other two boys that we will be “right back” and quickly grab my coffee. At least, I can use this time to warm it up.
As my son finishes in the bathroom, I hear him calling for me. I go into the bathroom and find that his pants have gotten somehow wrapped around his legs. He is sitting on the toilet as I try to straighten his pants when he suddenly loses his balance and begins to fall. Luckily, I am right there and he grabs for me to catch himself. His little hands grab onto both sides of my face and he regains his balance. Confused, I wonder why my face feels wet. AHHH! He had pee on his hands! I have pee ON MY FACE! If we weren’t late before, we would FOR SURE be late now. At this point, I don’t care. I need to wash my face! This day is just not getting any better.
After washing my face and our hands, we quickly move back to the car. We are finally out the door and on our way to school. I sulk in the driver’s seat as I hear happy chatter coming from the back of the car. Sadly, the bathroom distraction has made me forget my coffee in the house so I try to let the view of the mountains improve my mood as I gather my thoughts for the day. My thoughts are interrupted by a voice that says, “MOM! Do you want to play the I’M THINKING OF game?”
This reminds me that a great thing about kids is their simple happy attitudes. My kids have forgotten that we started out with a rough morning. That we are behind schedule. That we are late. It is a lesson that I can learn from. Where I am still frustrated, they have moved on to happy conversations and car games. I believe in keeping schedules but do I have to let it ruin my day when the schedule is not on track? I think of when I used to drive into work. I was alone then and sometimes STILL running late but I didn’t have anyone to ask me to play games.
I smile at myself in the rear view mirror and decide that despite the challenges, not being alone is a wonderful thing.