Picture yourself driving along downtown Ballard looking at the cute little shops and enjoying the 23 coffee shops in a 1/2 mile radius. Sitting at a red light, you wonder how serendipity could possibly be more present in your life because well, it couldn't. Your child is laughing in her car seat, loving life, which in turn reminds you what a wonderful parent you really are. You turn your head to the right because out of the corner of your eye you notice something wrong. Something terribly wrong. A woman is dragging her toddler by the arm across a crosswalk! You think to yourself, "I would never treat my child that way," and glance back at your adorable child in the rear view mirror all the while holding back the disgust you have for the woman on the street.
Now picture me. It was a great day to take Jada on a walk. She loves all that she sees, the birds, dogs, kids, rocks, benches, brick roads, lights, etc. But just as all walks begin they must come to an end. So, we turn around to walk back to the car. Jada, however, notices the kink I've put in her groove. She was clearly heading west for a reason. In her head the eastern route wasn't scheduled for another 20 miles, but she hesitantly goes along because I come up with a huge distraction, the crosswalk light that changes color. We wait patiently until the white walk light flashes and we walk across the street. Jada is given the choice of holding my hand or having me pick her up to walk across the street. Either way she knows she cannot walk in a street without somehow physically touching me.
The fascinating aspect of parenting often becomes apparent just as you are humiliated, self conscious, and glistening like a woman body builder during the national title because of the beads of sweat that have taken over the entire surface area of your body. Then you start wondering when your parent instincts transformed into those of a chimpanzee mother of seven.
In the middle of the crosswalk and street, Jada decides this is the time to lose it. She lets her body go completely limp. Completely blindsided, I find myself in a crippling situation. With a Starbucks coffee in one hand and a dead weight daughter trying to squeeze her hand away from my other hand, I make a split second decision to save my coffee AND drag my toddler across the crosswalk. Then, once we reach the sidewalk she tries to run! My sweet little rule-following Jada is one month away from two and has officially decided to open her parents' eyes to a whole new world.
To spare you the stress of the rest of the story I end up carrying her by the waist for two blocks as she screams and kicks with many parents on the street smiling as if saying "been there" which is a comfort to me. We both had (cold) coffee on our clothes, but damn it I wasn't about to lose my Starbucks! I am actually proud of how calm I stayed because I know my job is to teach my children how to handle their emotions by setting an example, but this is not going to be easy! Fortunately, I know that laughter is the best medicine for me...
