Family photo 2013

Family photo 2013

Thursday, August 21, 2008

This is a test

of the emergency Deutsch cast system.

Last night we met Bobby in town for a delicious, kids eat free on Wednesdays, La Casita meal. Good times eating on the patio cafe with all the other freeloaders feeding their brood.
Sat in the parking lot afterward for a few moments debating whether or not devouring the last of the fruit leather for a snack earlier in the day warranted a trip to Costco.
Decided, no. It did not.
We could possibly exist for a few days without dehydrated fruit strips.
Homeward bound then.
Or so we thought.
Tried to start the van. Tried being the operative word.
It made some very nice clicking, scratching sounds, but no signs of starting.
Bob the Builder pulls a tool out of his car and pops the hood.
Attempts a thing or two....
Still no go.
The kids grow antsy and tired of sitting in the parking lot.
A suburban toting a family with more kids than us leaving the free food fest stops by and asks if we need help.
Um...no. We're really working things out here. But thanks anyway.
I use the term working things out loosely because I actually mean we were piling out of our van with adequate, safe seating for each member of our family and loading into dad's car where the only safely seated tyke was Clover.
Bob determined the van needed a new starter, and we rode home.

Slightly annoyed, tempted to open up a big bottle of whine, I realized, This is a test. Or at least an opportunity to teach the kids a lesson.

Bob and I are often enough singing the praises of living such an excellent life to the children. We tell them we've got nothing worthy of true complaint. They think we are filthy rich because we tell them so all the time and they have no concept of what the world would call rich....so on.

Does a broken van in a sitting in parking lot change all that?

Well, we had to think about that for a few....

Do we really mean what we say? Is food and clothing and shelter really enough, or do we rely on convenience to maintain a joyful attitude?

With our kids watching the way we respond to this irritating situation will our actions align with our words? Good question.

I thought of my friend Courtney and her blog title: It's How You Live.

How are we going to live today? We wanted to choose wisely.

Kids, we need to learn the difference between inconvenience and true hardship. They are not the same. This is annoying, sure. Inconvenient, yes. Ideal, no. But worth ruining our day? Definitely not. Let's thank God we are all *somewhat* safe (and highly illegal) in this dad's car. We will get the van fixed. We are quite fortunate to even have 2 vehicles in the first place.
Being packed together like sardines in this sedan while our van is stranded in a parking lot is an inconvenience, not a hardship. Let us not confuse the two...and how about a little family sing along to pass the time as we drive?

At bedtime our family was safe, together, and well fed.
Yesterday was a very good day.
Now, if we can only get that van fixed :)

2 comments:

Amy© said...

I feel your pain. JC has replaced a few starters in our time. I once again reiterate what a shame it is we don't live closer together. Guys seem to enjoy doing this type of thing together. Hope your hubby can get the van taken care of quickly and inexpensively, preferably with a friend to give sympathy and hand tools over! ;) And I'm so very glad you guys are all ok!

Courtney said...

great perspective! once i get to my blog today (eventually)...you'll see that i needed this today. and, glad my blog title popped in your head when you needed it! :-)

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