Now, I am not sure if such a theory exists, perhaps one should research, publish and state it as so. Once children enter the picture, simple in all it's various forms, becomes nothing except theoritical. For example, a simple tasks, such as unloading the dishwasher, can easily turn into an all morning affair w various little bodies practicing climbing skills and fine motor skills while grabbing spoons and forks, and pushing buttons. Moms, using all extremities to avoid fingers getting smashed and knives getting found. simple, yes....in theory....
thus, our sunday evening. Jeremy and I had just returned from a wonderful trip to camp with
our community group....food,fun, fellowship, and free....kid free that is. We all enjoyed a day away from children and having uninterrupted conversations. Very blessed time.
So we arrive home late Sunday morning and Jeremy tells me we need to drive across town to retrieve a car from a friend which he will then drive to Ashboro tomorrow (for the regional camping conference) meet her there, then drive back with other Camp Lurecrest folks.
So he just needs me to drop him off at her house, then we all drive home,him in her honda, me w the kids. We decide the best time to do this is after the boys arise from their afternoon naps. Simple enough...in theory.
The boys wake up, we drive across town (we were giving the errand an hour TOPS total). Jeremy gets her keys, starts the car....dead....tries again...dead. Luckily, I married (and incidentally was also raised by) Mr. Prepared. So Jeremy gets our jumper cables, I get the blanket we always have in the back of the car (for emergencies such as this) place it under a tree get the boys out (they had been making it very clear they wanted no part of carseats during this adventure) and make the most out of watching daddy jump start a car. Keep in mind as well, that I was not planning on my childrens feet touching soil, so keller is shoeless, jacketless. i have both boys in my lap, wide-eyed w the wonder of modern mechanics, when suddenly I noticed smoke coming from our car.
"jeremy, there is smoke coming from our car."
Jeremy, quick on the drawl, removes in amazing speed the jumpers from our car, at the same time muttering under his breath about how cheap these cables are, and he has never seen this happen. Apparently, the heat from our battery, had melted the rubber part of our jumper cables making them useless.
ok, plan B. Get the boys back in the car, buy some cables, somewhere, come back to the house and try again. As we were driving toward the store, I had the insight to inquire whether or not her car would have cables in them...you know me, I always think like a mechanic.
So we turn around, Jeremy hops out to check. As he is looking in her trunk w a flashlight, a neighbor happens to come upon us. We look innocent enough, however some criminals do.
I am in the car at this point with the boys. Keller begins to asks "who is that mommy, who is that mommy??"
"a man"
"what's his name?"
"mr. walker." Now, this man was not Mr. Walker,nor do I personally know a Mr. Walker, however Keller is going through a phase of insisting on knowing everyones name, so i always have about 10 in the forefront of my brain, handy for situations such as this.
So "Mr. Walker," determining we are not America's Most Wanted, graciously loans us his jumper cables. I unload the boys again, to be mesmerized by mechanics. At this point it is cold (at least by southern standards)and dark.
The process is too short for the boys, so they fight getting back in the car. This is the point where Keller discovers the bowl I forgot to take inside from a party we went to on friday...sorry, did i say a bowl? I meant to say an astronauts' helmet.
Luckily this kept him preoccupied for most of our return trip. He would place the helmet on his head, countdown and blast off. Once he got bored with this, he noticed a lady in the car next to us.
"mommy, is that lady praying" (coleman crying...getting close to his bedtime)
"of course she is"
"i want to see her aGAIN"
The next five minutes (no lie) (coleman still crying. closer to bedtime)
"mommy,where is dat lady paying (praying), is dat her car, is dat her car is dat her car..."
once we got out of traffic "is dat her house, is dat where de paying lady lives? is dat her house, is dat her house...i want to see dat paying lady aGAIN." (coleman still crying, past bedtime)
what can I do but put on my favorite Curious George song, and wonder what Jeremy is doing solo in the jumped Honda in front of us.
Simple errand, yes .....in theory.
