Call me, Nincompoop!

I was almost going to keep this little secret to myself because it makes me look like a nincompoop, but I decided that there has to be at least one person out there that will understand what it is like to have your mind race in a million different directions when you’re racing against the clock.

My 14-month-old daughter is cutting her incisors and molars all at once.  Yesterday, her tummy was a little upset so she and I spent a lot of time together on the diaper-changing table.  As I was walking out the door for pre-school pick-up, she needed to be changed again.   I looked at the microwave clock.  It read 12:02 pm.  Boy, that is cutting it close for pick-up on time.

I just couldn’t NOT change her.  I would feel too guilty to see her little red bottom later on in the day.  It had to be done. I did everything as fast as I could, and was off once again to get my son.  I even remembered his juice (That story is from my first-ever Hines-Sight).  It’s about 12:09 pm now.   Luckily, we live about five minutes away from his school.  Pick-up is at 12:15 pm, but they usually dismiss early.

As I passed the horse farm on the left like I do daily, my stomach dropped and I thought, “Did I wash my hands?”  I just could not remember if I did.  I then thought about all the germs I would be passing.  I tried to retrace my steps in the house, but hand washing must be so routine for me that I couldn’t pull up the memory.  My mind then quickly wandered to my purse and if I had any hand sanitizer stored in there.  

As I decided to reach over to grab my purse to check, I happened to glance in the rear view mirror before doing so and saw AN EMPTY CAR SEAT in the reflection.  My mind panicked, and it took me back to a vision of seeing my daughter like this on the floor before leaving as I got my son’s juice.

In less than half a second before I whipped my head around toward the backseat, I thought, “What do I do? Do I turn the car around? Call my husband to pick my son up from school?” I’m late!  I felt pandemonium.

With sure panic on my face, I took my eyes off the road, glanced in the backseat and there SHE WAS.  Whew! She was sitting behind me with her head cocked back in her seat, and a pacifier in her mouth that was preventing her from making any noise.

I realized I had looked at the wrong seat in the mirror.  I cannot tell you the relief I felt at that very moment. And we’re only talking about an incident that was probably less than a minute in overall thoughts.  It could have been only 30 seconds total that I had all those thoughts, but that is how a parent’s mind may work on any given day.  I sometimes feel that my mind is thinking at “Bionic Woman” running speed, and I just can’t keep up.

On this day, I was late for pre-school pick-up because I decided to change a diaper at the last minute and race against the clock.  I should know that the clock always wins!

Once I got home with both children at 12: 25 pm, and pulled into the garage, I laughed at my little nutty thoughts that caused me such heartburn and a spike in blood pressure.   I thought, "You know,  It could have been a lot worse! " In my rush, I could have easily backed the car out of the garage without raising the door.  Maybe I’m not such a nincompoop after all!

Have a great weekend everyone!  I’m off to get a cup of tea and go on a playdate!