Where you are in line is determined by how early you get there.. You are usually first in line if you arrive 15 minutes before school lets out.. So, I ask you this.. why? why sit there for 15 minutes? ... unless, of course, you have a book to read and this is your one, short moment of solitude. Then I say... go for it. Bring a book. Roll down the windows. Turn off the car....and kick your left foot up by the side mirror and read.
I usually have Sweet Pea with me, waiting, so this is not the best time for me to read.
Today, I opted for the drive through line. I considered myself early, arriving 13 minutes early, but I was beaten by 7 cars ahead of me. Makes me wonder if they were there just minutes before me, or an hour. It didn't matter. Damn!, is all I could say to myself... and hoped that the parents who were in the front of the line told their kids to be prompt once the bell rang.
And of course, they are not. The bell rings, and the kids putz and meander and drag their feet to the cars waiting for them... some kids dont show up at all, which means the rest of us are sitting there... waiting! (I hate waiting).. Even though I am there, ready and waiting, they only let the kids out the gate to those parents who are there in the first 1-2 spots..
It was then that I realized that as a parent, there are 4 essential words that need to be ingrained into their children's brains..
1. (common) courtesy
2. awareness
3. consideration
4. punctuality
these are N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y lessons to be taught!!!
I have not perfected teaching them, but I will say, that, when I tell Magoo I am going to pick him up in the car line, he is to be prompt and ready to be picked up.. do dilly-dallying.. move it!
And so he was.. there at the gate. Waiting his turn. He listened to me.. he was punctual.
And so there I am, 7th in line.... waiting. And as I am waiting, I watch Magoo at the gate.. his backpack on, multiple things in both hands.. long sleeves pushed up because the weather this morning was 30 degrees warmer and so now he is hot! I see him put his stuff down and start talking to the older kids.. they are laughing.. and that is when it happened.
He untucked his shirt, stuck his right hand under his left arm pit, the ginormous smile on his face grew, and then he started making a flapping motion.. Yes, he was doing the armpit farts... again and again.. and again. and once completing them, he received one high five after another from the older boys..
I sighed and laughed as I shook my head side to side. The Gift of Time.. it allows us to see those things we wouldn't normally see.
No comments:
Post a Comment