So on Saturday the Noodle and I got a bit confused and went to the park, and I was the mother who was saying fiercely to the seven-year-old 'I can't carry you and the cricket bat and our lunch, if you won't walk I will throw your cricket bat in the bin, so you'd better start walking'. I suppose the only way I could be a worse mother is if I actually did throw the cricket bat in the bin, but I can assure you that it is resting happily in its accustomed place next to the hall stand. I also made it home with the kid and the remnants of lunch (including some rather tasty Macedonian jaffa cakes). I haven't actually felt like leaving the Noodle behind anywhere for, oh I don't know, years.
Luckily the Noodle is a highly resilient character, since today he was given a merit certificate at school for being able to tell the Three Little Pigs from the Wolf's point of view. It is certainly a unique award. He was also voted to the SRC by his class mates. It is hard to remember the difficulties he has had at different times with making friends and even talking to other children. In fact, he has apparently been in trouble for talking in class. Possibly my pride in this achievement will be shorter lived than in his other milestones, but possibly not. He has always talked 19 to the dozen with us, it's a real pleasure to see him as happy as that with other people.
Tomorrow I have another driving lesson. This certainly counts as a down because I haven't practised my parking one bit no not at all. Not once. My conscious mind is quite keen on driving, but everything else thinks it is a stinking, no-good, dangerous idea than can only result in mayhem of biblical proportions. Actually, that's my conscious mind too. How do you all manage it all the time? I imagine myself driving the car with the Noodle in the back and I just fall to pieces.
So tomorrow, if you see someone hesitating around the car park in Woden or somewhere else, don't wave or do anything distracting and please actually go completely in the other direction and actually could you all please not drive to work tomorrow morning, but maybe just stay off the roads all together and stand in the horse paddocks or something instead. Because that way I'll feel that you are all much, much safer.
Oh how I love cars.
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4 comments:
Hi there, I'm in Canberra this weekend, should you be around for a coffee.
Cheers! Judith
Great! I just sent an email via your profile with my contact details.
Pen
I am three days away from my one year anniversary of getting my license. I NEVER parallel park. In face we've just bought a manual car (my license is automatic) and one of my options is resitting my license in the manual and I'm too scared to because of the parking. And the weird reverse several metres down the street and end up parallel to the curb thing, what's with that? A skill I assure you I've never needed.
Anyway, all those people who tell you driving is great are right, but I miss the days when I didn't drive and did everything under my own steam instead, more gratifying.
I have so been that mother by the way. Exact same threat (except not a cricket bat).
Trust me, Pen, when you get used to driving, you'll wonder how you ever got by before. It will happen. There will come a moment when it all sort of falls into place and you feel like you could just drive and drive.
I tell my husband I am capable of parallel parking. I just choose not to.
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