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Jennifer Morgan

Motherhood Moments

-- Jennifer Morgan is the mother of three girls and lives in McCook.

Duh, Mom!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

I always think it's kinda funny when I see someone driving around town with their coffee mug accidentally left on top of their car, then watching it and wondering how long it'll stay on before it rolls off or how soon the driver who set it up there and forgot it, will realize it's gone.

Well, as a busy mom, setting stuff on your vehicle and driving off is not all that uncommon. I haven't done it as many times as I've locked my keys in the truck, which is too many to count, but I've definitely had my share of rooftop instances.

I thought after the time I left a ceramic plate full of cookies on top of my van and drove off, hearing it rattle off the roof and then watching it shatter into a thousand pieces might have been enough for me to learn, but apparently not.

Recently I did it again, except this time it made me laugh instead of embarrass me or make me mad. One evening last week, I went outside to make sure the girls had picked up all the toys and junk they'd managed to drag out, since the weather had been nice and it was lighter longer in the day. As usual, there were still a few lonely items hidden here and there, including my 5-year-old's favorite pair of light up shoes.

She absolutely loves these twinkling shoes that flash lights like a disco ball when she walks. She had begged and begged and finally got them on her birthday a few months ago, so they were a major big deal to her.

Since I was trying to hold too many things, I set the shoes on the back of my truck on, what I guess they would call, the step board, and finished putting the toys away in the garage.

I went about my evening and totally forgot the shoes. It wasn't until we pulled up to my oldest daughter's school the next morning, a whole 12 hours later, that the sparkling shoes forcefully pop back into my memory.

When I parked next to the sidewalk to let her out, I noticed the pickup behind me pulled up kind of close and I saw the two people in it staring at the back of our truck.

I figured they were just trying to figure out what our personalized license plates say, it takes some people awhile ya know.

Wrong! As my 12-year-old was about to open her door, the cute and thoughtful 8th grade boy, from the pickup behind us, came walking to our truck window with a pair of pink, glittery shoes, and asked when I rolled down the passenger window, "Are these your shoes?"

I immediately started laughing at the thought that I'd forgotten them, and couldn't believe what a dork I was, but mainly laughing at the thought that those darn shoes had amazingly stayed on the back of the truck the ENTIRE way to school.

That's awesome! You know how mad I would have been if I'd lost them, not to mention the drama I'd get from my 5-year-old.

Plus, I bet those twinkling lights were going off the whole time we bounced our way too school. I don't travel down smoothest side streets in the world, so I imagine the back of my truck looked like quite the dance party!

No wonder the pickup behind us pulled up so close, had to see what the heck those mini flashing lights were.

Anyways, I thanked the nice boy, who also probably thought I was a dork now that I think about it, and he went about his way. That's when I looked over to finally to say goodbye to my 12-year-old daughter, and realized this little incident, that I thought was hilarious, had TOTALLY humiliated her.

I don't know what embarrassed her more, the fact that her mom was driving kids around town in her pajamas, without a stitch of makeup on, nor a hint of mouthwash.

OR, that the cute 8th grade boy handed her the sparkly, twinkling tennis shoes that we displayed for everyone on the back of our truck ALL the way to school. She was smiling and laughing, but only nervously; not because she thought it was the least bit humorous.

As she got out of the truck, I chuckled again and told her I loved her and to have a good day, but she interrupted me with, "MOM, that was SO stupid!"

I wanted to yell out the window "I LOVE YOU, TOO, Honey!," but I think I had humiliated her enough for one morning!

I still don't know how those bad boys stayed on the whole way to school. Crazy!

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