This morning, I struggled to get the kids ready to go on our journey to Costco (yes, I realize I am the most boring person on earth). I meant to go yesterday – but the roads kept me home-bound for much of the day. We had a few things we needed to get, and I wanted to get there shortly after they opened so as not to hit that mid-morning point that makes Pumpkin tend to fall asleep in the car and totally screw with naptime.
But getting out the door with two kids is never easy.
They wanted to take drinks with them. So I had to pour some chocolate milk for one, and Invisible Koolaid for another. Can we take toys too? Sure, two each. Off to find the Webkinz and a book, and a My Little Pony and a unicorn. But I want my stuff in a bag!!! Off to find a bag to put the stuff in. One forgot to brush her hair. Find the brush, toss it in my purse for in-car grooming. Socks? Check. Shoes? Shoes? Go get your shoes. Coats? One has a coat on, one doesn’t. I don’t wanna wear my coat?! Too bad. It’s cold. Coat on? Check.
Oh yeah.
So, I left a little later than planned. We were driving down the road, listening to Radio Disney. About five to ten miles away from home, the driver of a pickup truck flashed its lights at me. Soon after that, I happened on a three car accident that had taken place just minutes before. Emergency personnel were just in the process of arriving. One of the cars was TOTALLY SMUSHED. The police had not even blocked the road off yet. We ended up turning around and doing a twenty minute backroads detour to get to Costco.
We did a hurried shop at Costco and returned to the car to a panicked voice mail from my mom, “I need you to call me so I know you’re okay.” She had heard about the accident, knew I had plans to leave. The driver of the northbound car was pinned in the car. I reassured her, drove home, and checked online to see if I could find the story.
I found it. One of the people had died. I was driving northbound. A couple minutes earlier, it could have been us. If it had not been for the drinks, the coats, the shoes, the hairbrush, the toys, the.. the… the… It could have easily been us.
It’s easy to get annoyed at the time it takes to get out of the house when you have little people, but things most certainly happen for a reason. We’re home safe and sound, and we’ll be here the rest of the day.
About sarah
Thank goodness for the kiddie delays. How scary !
~Lisa
I’m so glad you are OK. I’ve had very similar things happen & I’m always amazed at how some trivial irritation prevented a serious catstrophy.