Four for the Road

The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me. Today, at the height of rush hour, a mom with her dog and two kids, one of whom was on a bicycle, meandered along the busiest roads in our area. It should be noted that there are no sidewalks in my community so this is an incredibly risky move and very frustrating for those drivers who are eager to get home without running down a dog or child.

Now before you join me in a hearty "amen!", I should probably point out that the dog was mine. The kids were mine. And the mom was me. Clearly, this wasn't one of my finest moments or brightest ideas. But this is what we're driven to when:

• The active kid (Abby) is whining about being bored.
• The inactive kid (Ian) has already spent the allotted time today playing computer games
• The dog is being a pain in the rear
• And the only solution that everyone agrees on is a trek to Rita's Water Ice

So I didn't stop to consider that it was 5:00 p.m. and that we would  have to travel on two of the busiest roads in the area. Oops.

This post is intended to serve as a public service announcement. When you see clueless kids and frazzled moms wandering around in places they shouldn't be at inappropriate times, please cut them some slack. As a driver, you have the power to stop traffic at your intersection and wave them across to safety. As a driver, you can inch a bit into the other lane (assuming no cars are coming) so the kid on the bike doesn't have to veer off into someone's yard because you came as close as possible to hitting her.

And now, on a very serious note, can we all reconsider the importance of checking that text message or making that call while driving? The reality is that a split second can be the difference between life and death. On our trek, Abby was on her bike and therefore a good bit ahead of Ian and I who were walking with the dog. She had pulled into a friend's driveway to wait for us and when she pulled out to join us she totally neglected to look for cars. And a car was right there. If the driver had been driving too fast or was the least bit distracted, she would have hit Abby. Every parent's worst nightmare.

On that note, safe travels this weekend. Enjoy these beautiful summer days, but be careful out there!

Love, your Freakin' Angel