Sidewalk Chalk PortraitsLessons Learned While Chasing A Bus
It's not really much of a stretch to say that I spend a great deal of my time babysitting adults. Because of that, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no difference between "kids these days" and older people. Lazy, rude, irresponsible ... none of it is something that can be blamed on a generational thing. Grandma is just as capable of being a doucheface as is that 19-year old kid down the street.
I'm pretty sure nobody's mom raised them to be a doucheface. It's something some people decide to do all on their own.
Which is all to say, some people do stupid crap without any concern for consequences. Old people do it, young people do it, all sorts of people do it. But, I would really like for my kid to not grow up to be one of those people. That is why I let her fall flat on her face from time-to-time.
This morning was one of those face-flattening moments.
We have a morning routine that depends greatly on Alexis being self-sufficient. I wake her up and make sure she's moving, but then it's up to her to make sure she gets dressed, eats breakfast, brushes her teeth, and combs her hair. The consequences for failure to act like a responsible human being are clear -- I will send her to school in her pajamas.
It hasn't ever actually happened, but just mentioning that it's a possibility is like waving a magic wand and sprinkling cooperation all over the kid.
The thing is, the kid pretty much does what she is supposed to do every single morning. Occasionally, I will have to remind her to get moving, but mostly she's ready to go when I pop into the kitchen ten minutes before the school bus is set to arrive down the street.
But not this morning. If you follow along on Facebook, you already know what happened, but the long of the short is that I walked into the kitchen and found the kid reading a book. She was half dressed, but not really. Her teeth weren't brushed, her hair was a mess, and she hadn't found her shoes yet.
I looked at her and asked a simple question, "Did you notice what time it is?"
She slowly turned her head towards a clock and then she FREAKED OUT. Total panic.
Ten minutes later, she still hadn't brushed her teeth or combed her hair, but I declared her ready enough and shoved her out the front door. The only problem was that the bus was already at the stop -- half a block away. I told Alexis to run. I watched as she turned on her turbo setting and raced her way down the street.
The lights on the bus flashed.
And flashed.
And flashed.
It's downhill from our house to the bus stop, so Alexis had an advantage. She made good use of it, too, and managed to run up to the side of the bus ... just as the bus driver pulled away from the curb. She literally was five feet from making it to that bus door.
The bus driver never saw her. I could mention the bright yellow pants the kid was wearing and the fact that ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME? THE BUS DRIVER DIDN'T CHECK THE MIRRORS.
But whatever.
The fact of the matter is the whole thing never happens if Alexis had gotten dressed like she's supposed to. I won't tell her that I think the bus driver shares in the blame for the whole debacle because OWN YOUR MISTAKES, PEOPLE. There's nothing that makes me consider violence more than when people blame others for their own messes. If you don't put your shoes on until the bus is already in your neighborhood, you're hurting your odds of making it onto that bus. Enough sad.
But ... man. MAN. Alexis' face when she turned around and ran back to the house, sobbing because she had missed the bus ... it was pitiful. There were no further consequences because I knew she was very aware that she had made a mistake. I told her to get in the car, quickly grabbed my purse, and left the house without combing my hair or pouring myself a cup of coffee.
I didn't say a word about how she had impacted me, by the way. I'll save that for a day when she's not already beating the crap out of herself.
During the ride to school, we talked about how the morning could have gone differently. She had good ideas and seemed to learned the lesson she needed to learn. Still, I can't help but hope that she never again feels the misery that she felt when she tried as hard as she could to make something work and it wasn't good enough.
Fairy Garden Winners
In the darkness of the night, it returned.
The fairy house. It disappeared shortly after it was discovered to be in disrepair, but it has returned to its cozy little corner on the patio.
It is sporting a newly repaired roof and a fresh coat of paint. Once winter completely releases its grasp on us all, the "grass" will turn a bright shade of green, the trees will spring to life, and a few annuals will find their way into the nooks and crannies. The magic will fully return.
It took Alexis two days to notice that the fairy house had re-appeared. She did so on a sunny day filled with fun. She and several of her friends were outside playing when she suddenly tossed aside a jump rope, ran up the stairs, and drug me down to the patio to show me what had happened.
"Momma! Look! The fairies came back! And they fixed the house!" she breathlessly shouted.
And all was right with the fairy world. At least, for that day. It seems the castle recently disappeared, most likely so it too can be repaired.
An interesting little project grew out of my recent post about the fairy garden and the damaged house. As I was assembling the pieces and parts for the giveaway, Alexis happened upon my mess and had an idea. "Momma, can I put together some fairy kits to sell?" she asked. Her mission to earn money for cheerleading is a gift that keeps on giving. It might be my most favorite thing ever, to be honest.
Alexis took on the project and saw it all the way through. She did some shopping to fill in some gaps. She laid out her displays and then photographed them. She sat with me as I uploaded the photos and descriptions to Etsy. She learned about cost and profit and a little about super basic accounting. She's ready. Have a look, if you want.
And if you were wondering if you won a fairy garden kit, it just so happens that I can answer that. The winners are:
Emile
Melissa Munson
Bisbink
That only took me entirely too long to post. Sorry about that (I was short a few things and wanted to grab them before I contacted winners.). If you are one of those three people, please drop me an email at burghbaby (at) gmail.com so I can get your kit out to you. Please include your address in your email.
More posts about the fairy garden:
There Are Fairies Living in the Garden
