There are roadworks and building works going on near where I live and every morning we have to drive right through them on our way to school.
Now I am not a patience person at the best of times, but after a morning of what can only be described as more chaotic than a pack of pigs in a pork shop, we were running late and I certainly wasn't in the mood for any more delays.
And so I did what any mature adult setting an example to a car full of kids doesn't do - I sat in my car scowling at the line of traffic in front of me and moaning about the injustice of it all.
I huffed and I puffed and I rolled my eyes so hard they were at risk of staying in the back of my head forever, and as I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw another mum waiting in her car behind me.
She had the same sort of car as me and was obviously on the school run - the only difference between her and me was the fact that she was smiling.... and her kids had probably remembered to brush their teeth.
So I had two choices at that point.
1. I could roll my eyes at her and continue to stink eye the guy with the stop go sign.
or
2. I could follow her lead and get over myself and enjoy the fact that whilst I was sitting in the car going nowhere, there was nothing else to do but enjoy a really corny pun war with the kids.
I chose the latter.... mostly because I had a bruised palm from the steering wheel slapping and I think I had pulled a muscle in my eye.
As I drove home after the school drop off I realised that rushing is kind of a choice.
It is so easy to get yourself into an 'I'm always in a rush' kind of mindset and run around like a looney in a hurry and do nothing but send your stress levels through the roof.
Or you can take the 'meh, what's the big hurry approach?' and relax and enjoy the moment.
hmmm decisions decisions huh?
As I drove closer to where I live, I had the choice of taking a different route home and avoiding the traffic or heading straight back into the roadworks line up.
This time I purposely chose the line up and as I sat in my car waiting for the stop go guy to signal us to move forward I smiled sanctimoniously at the person in the car in front of me and smugly leaned back in my seat... before suddenly realising I had forgotten I was supposed to go to and pick up the supplies I needed for a photo shoot.
So I ditched the smile and replaced it with eye rolling whilst I cursed the frickin roadworks for being such a pain in the ass. All the while I had to practically bite on my finger to stop myself from sticking it up at the smiling guy in the car behind me.
What?
Not exactly how you thought this post was going to play out huh?
Whatever!
The moral of the story is;
Roadworks during school drop off is a major pain in the ass.
Eye rolling won't get you anywhere in a hurry but then neither will smiling like a lobotomised dufus who forgets where she is supposed to be going.
I need to work on my puns because my kids are like REALLY good.
I want a pretty vesper with a basket full of flowers because how can you be shitty in traffic on that!
Are you a rusher or are you the smiler in the car behind me?
