You may be wondering where I’ve been all week. Or if you’re like me, you’re completely unaware a whole week has passed. Tuesday, I drove to Columbia to give a talk to the Greater Columbia Area Mothers of Twins. The next thing I knew, it was Friday morning.
That’s when I remembered I was supposed to send my son to preschool in his “silliest, Suessiest socks or shoes.” My son is very silly, and very Suessy, but all his socks are white, and he has outgrown his obnoxious Thomas the Train boots and fuzzy Wiggles slippers. So I needed to buy or borrow something.
Two days earlier, I told myself not to forget. I told my husband to remind me not to forget. We both forgot. So Friday morning, I dragged my children out the door 30 minutes early to stop by Wal-Mart on the way to school. I went to the kid shoe section in search of some funny slippers, only to learn they were out of stock until the holidays.
As I was rethinking my plan, my son spotted a pair of Lightning McQueen tennis shoes. I didn’t find them particularly silly or Suessy, but they would do. He was so excited about his new zippy shoes, he started running down the aisle.
“Stop running…” I could barely get the words out of my mouth. I saw what was happening but couldn’t do a thing about it.
SMACK!
My son’s face collided with a metal pole in the center of the aisle. He started screaming, and the baby joined the chorus. I pulled off his glasses and examined his forehead, watching the bruise form under his skin. A Wal-Mart employee heard the commotion and checked to see what had happened. Then, she insisted we fill out an incident report. We were now five minutes late to school. (I take whacks to the head very seriously, and despite all the drama, fortunately, it was a minor bump.)
On the way to the checkout line, we saw a pair of purple, polka-dotted socks. Very silly and very Suessy. My son’s smile came back. We grabbed the socks. Now, we were 10 minutes late to school.
“Sorry, this lane is closed,” the cashier said and pointed to the open lanes on the other side of the store.
I trekked across the store, made the purchase and grabbed the bag. Then the clerk said, “Oh, I forgot to ring up the socks.” I grit my teeth and bit my tongue.
Once in the car, I dressed my son in his new purple polka-dotted socks and Lightning McQueen shoes. I rolled up his jeans to his knees for effect. He was happy, but I was unnerved.
We arrived at school 30 minutes late. I told the teacher about my son’s face-to-face meeting with the pole and asked her to keep an eye on him. He was already showing off his purple-polka dotted socks.
I left asking myself questions that were ultimately pointless, because what’s done is done. How could I forget? How did something that was supposed to be fun turn out to be, so, not?
Was I really the same woman who gave an inspirational talk to a group of moms earlier in the week?
Then I remembered a message I received from a mom in the audience. You can read more over at Hybrid Mom.
angiemizzell 
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Love this one!!! Funny, it never fails!! When ever we forget something or we are running late, it always happens; everything tests our patients. This is something I have learned how to deal with much better now that I am older and wiser. When I was younger this morning you had in Walmart would have just ruined the day or at least the first half of it…now I just laugh it off…really what is it that we need to be rushed for, so you are late, does it really matter? Is this going to change the outcome of the day, prob not…I have learned to just “go with the flow” everything happens for a reason… what happened in Wal-mart, well you could have been on the road as scheduled, could have been involved in that accident that happened 10 mins prior to leaving Wal-mart… I really started looking at things like this after 911…for all those people that missed the train and thought they were having a bad bad day or the cars that wouldn’t start or the traffic that was outrageous…I could go on & on with All the people that thought they were having a bad day…but I think you get the point.. Life is too short to worry about all the “what ifs”… there is no book on how to be the perfect parent or how to raise the perfect child… something I have always told my childern (now adults) “We all make mistakes, as long as we learn from them, it’s called a Life Lesson” but when we keep making the same mistakes over and over, it’s called “stupidity”…this is my take; I raised my children with morals and values. I taught/showed them about love and respect, to always treat others as we wish to be treated and never ever be disrespectful to anyone, but to stand up for yourself when you believe in something… now I can only hope that they take those life lessons and apply them to their adult lives… as always, thank you for your posts! I enjoy each & everyone of them <3
I give you credit for making the extra effort to get to Walmart once you realized you’d forgotten! I’m not sure how many moms would have gone the extra mile. That’s what it’s all about sometimes, motherhood and family, that very cherished extra mile!
Oh how I relate to this story!!! Right after my daughter was born I was so stressed out about being on time that I was constantly yelling at my son “Look at my watch, we’re running late!” I said it so much that my poor 2.5 year old (at the time) started saying it. I agree with Joanne that the fact that you remembered at all and still made the attempt to go get his silly socks makes you a great mom! No matter what time you arrived at school.
I miss the days when purple-polka dotted socks could completely change my frame of mind & mood.
I see the Angie we all know and love hasn’t changed a bit. It’s just a good thing you have the gift to paint pictures with words to make us feel like we were there with you. I hope Dillon’s head is ok. This is one of those memories you will be telling for many years.
This was so funny and sad all at the same time…a story that perfectly depicts the life of a young mother in the 21st century! Actually, being a mother in any century is guranteed to produce moments like the ones you describe so well in this post.
30 years from now, this will be a favorite family story
Aw, poor baby! I can see my son doing the exact same thing. In fact, he’s had many run-ins with poles.
You’re doing the best you can and you have to give yourself credit for that. I’m sure your son will remember the new shoes and silly socks, not the bump on the head and being late to school.
I’m impressed that you made it to Wal-Mart and were only 30 minutes late! This story is priceless and will be one that you and your little guy will laugh about one day. You are doing a great job!