Conversations in the Car

Today did not go the way I had planned it. But it ended in a way I could have never planned and for that very ending, I would not change a thing about my day.

I was commenting to a friend yesterday that I am really enjoying my more regular hours...having time in the evening and having every weekend off. It has done a lot for my own mental health to have more predictable days.

But then along comes Monday. "Monday, Monday, Can't trust that day..."

I began shifting into work-mind as I took my shower and planned an outfit for the day. I said good-bye to the kids and drove to Stillwater to start my work day. The morning went well. I had an appointment and the client has made improvements, so that is alway gratifying. And then I got some paperwork started. Next thing I know it's lunch with a co-worker and then a meeting with my supervisor. From there things started to go off track.

Ordinarily, I work til 4:30 but today, Banana Boy had a doctor appt in Minneapolis and I had to leave at 2:30. I have a client who is on a blood thinner and his medication changes daily sometimes. I called the doctor's nurse and asked her to get back to me by 2pm so I would have time to see my client before leaving for my son's appt. She didn't get back to me until 2:30. And suddenly I have a dilemma..a client who needs his meds, a son who needs this appt because he needs medication too and not enough time to do it all. So, I decided that I would "wing it" and pick up B B and then swing by the client's home after B.B.'s appt. Sounds fairly reasonable.

BUT....

Banana Boy is at school in Brooklyn Park. It takes 40 minutes to get to the school. His doctor is in Minneapolis but that only took us 15 minutes to get to. We finish with the doctor a little after 5pm...then have to wait at the pharmacy for his new med and now we get back on the road at 5:30. What I did NOT factor into my plan was TRAFFIC. So, it took 45 minutes to get over to St. Paul and then it only took me 5 minutes to set up the client's meds and get back on the road...and back through St. Paul and Minneapolis to home in Brooklyn Park at 7:05.

I was feeling very frazzled and upset with the inefficiency of my day and IF things had gone the way I had it laid out in my mind, Banana Boy and I could have been at home by 6pm. Also adding to my FRAZZLED mind was the said traffic, bumper to bumper, side mirror to side mirror as far as I can see. Banana Boy has been chatting happily, playing with my cell phone and making changes (but that is another story for another time). Suddenly, B. B. says to me, "Mom, I sure do like our conversations, when it is just me and you. Don't you?"

So, Purpletulip, s-----l-----o------w down! Listen to this precious child who sees this aggrivating situation as a special time to bond with mom. As they say in the Visa commercials, "Priceless". And it made all the hectic, harried, stress and aggrivation all melt away and I began to listen carefully to what my son had to say and I realized that this conversation in the car was giving me a rare glimpse into the world of my son, who on top of being very bright and full of questions, has a special place in my heart because of his ADHD challenges. Life will not be easy for this boy. He has a voracious appetite for information and an amazing ability to sort through layers of complexity in every day life and then make it jive with his 8 year old brain. And this drizzly afternoon, racing across the Twin Cities and back was something that he took away as being very special.

Realistically, and because I am well aware of my own limitations, I would not want another crazy, inefficient, frustrating day like that again but if it meant that I somehow managed to touch a deep part of one of my children, I would gladly do it again.