Parking

As I sat back and discussed yesterday with Nathan, I thought - why am I so tired - we didn't even go that many places yesterday.  Then we both started to chuckle.

The days are so long I forget that what just transpired is in fact only one day.  We started off great.  I got seven children fed, dressed and out the door in a perfect amount of time to get to the orthodontist. 

Halfway there (which is about 30 minutes away)  Chloe' asked me if I had the diaper bag.  Before I even asked if someone grabbed it I started to make a u-turn.  Unbelievable - just moments before we were happy go lucky, chatting as we cruised down the road while listening to music.  And then BOOM.  Disaster.  I was immediately irate - seriously?  There were two kids standing right next to the diaper bag when I asked someone to get it.  And now we would be late.  I hate being late.

Well, I took a deep breath and realized that I did not actually ask a specific person to get the diaper bag and generally kids are not going to just do that on their own.  So I chilled out.  Once we returned to the house I called the orthodontist and apologized and told them we would be there in thirty minutes. 

So we started off down the road again.  I felt better after calling to let them know.  Then I started talking to the children about how sometimes things come up but it is responsible to call and tell them so they can see other patients or accomodate the schedule.  Hmmm. In hind site that wasn't so bad after all - I taught them a good principle.

I even got a little silly and started pointing out the same things and doing EXACTLY what I did at that point the first time we drove it.  In no time, we had all snapped out of it.  Whew.

After some homeschooling and some yard work it was time to take the kids to orchestra.  It was so nice out when we got there that we just sat with the windows open while the older kids went in and the baby took a nap.  Surprisingly the book for book club was still in my bag so I decided we would take that opportunity to get ahead.  I mean we only had about THREE months to read these last two chapters, but it's okay that we did it the day before book club, right?

So as I sit in my truck, pleased with the way things are going a man walks over to his car and says a very friendly hello.  Impressed and always up for talking to people I returned the greeting with a smile.  And then the man said "They started the vertical parking and we just need to keep it going."  I look at my parking and said "I guess I did not park that vertically."  As he got in his car I realized - that might have been a slam.  Did my parking really bother him that much?  Was I preventing other people from parking there?  Did I make it difficult for him to back out?  No. No and No.  I didn't let it get to me though.  I am by nature a people pleaser and the fact that I did not let it get to me was exciting.  Did it really matter that much?

Now as I sit back and ponder the events I think - was that really worth it for him?  Do I often judge people not knowing what it took for them just to make it to the present situation?  I also had on my mind the impending doom of dinner - we would return home at 6:15, Nathan had to leave at 6:40 and I had forgotten to put anything in the crockpot. 

So, Mindy, you never really know.  In the grand scheme of the day was my bad parking really the moment of truth about who I really am?  So over look the silly stuff.  Give people a break!!!