Parenting is tricky. There are days you have to be creative, tell the occasional "white lie", and even pull the ol' "do as I say, not as I do"...Last week I had the opportunity to do all three in a matter of minutes (all before 6:45 am).
We were actually enjoying (relative) a nice ride to school when I realized one of the back car doors was not completely shut. I am not sure how I missed the glowing yellow light on my dash that said "door ajar", but I did and we will move on. Brylee Kate took the news fairly well and was prepared to open and close it at the next stop light. As we approached the light, it turned green. I told her not to worry, that I once I came to a stop, I would not move forward until she was able to shut it. She began to panic when the (impatient) gentleman behind me started honking his horn. I assured her that her safety was more important than him making the light and to open and close the door. His honking only became more frequent and my sweet southern patience vanished. Very dramatically, I pulled over, put on my flashers, shouted a word that I never use, and provided him with some additional signs indicating my disgust with him. My middle school daughter looked at me with amazement and said she had never seen nor heard me do that before. Initially, I was pleased with myself for being a model driver for her over the last 12 years; but then I felt some guilt because the other two would not share the same experience since I had just exposed them at such a young age. Brylee Kate shut her door then asked "never seen what before?" followed by Tucker's "what did you do mom?". This is where my creativity kicked in and my guilt then vanished. With a sweet southern smile (because clearly they didn't see it), I turned to them both and explained, "I just did sign language to the man that said I would be finished in just one minute." With that quick, creative response, Brylee Kate and Tucker will continue to think that I am the model driver that Allie thought I was until the morning of the "door incident". You may wonder if they asked what that sign was. They didn't. What they did ask is where I learned how to do sign language. With great pride I said "Mimi and Dramps" (my parents).
