Today was grocery shopping day.
I hate grocery shopping.
It’s 100% necessary, yet somehow it still feels like a complete waste of both time and money. Then there’s the cart rage that inevitably sets in about three minutes after I walk into Walmart.
Is it just me, or does everyone suddenly lose all spatial awareness once they grab a shopping cart? Nothing raises my blood pressure faster than one person parking their cart smack in the middle of an aisle that could easily fit two carts side by side. Bonus points if they’re standing there comparing twenty-seven different brands of pasta sauce with absolutely no regard for the line of increasingly irritated people waiting behind them.
Maybe I was extra grumpy because today I felt less like a mom and more like a full-time chauffeur.
My son is doing a day camp this week that’s an hour away, which means I spent four hours in the car just dropping him off and picking him up.
Four.
Hours.
Then it was time to take my daughter to jiu-jitsu—a 30-minute drive each way, plus an hour sitting on my derriere pretending I’m paying attention.
To be fair, I do watch…
Occasionally.
My daughter acts like it’s a capital offense if she catches me looking at my phone, which is ironic considering I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell she’s the next Ronda Rousey.
After class, it was rush home so she could shower before I played Uber yet again and dropped her off at a friend’s house for a sleepover.
Some days I feel like I spend more time behind the wheel than in my own house.
Don’t get me wrong—I genuinely want my kids to have these opportunities. I love that they’re involved in activities, making friends, and building memories.
But every now and then I find myself wondering exactly how many days of my life are spent staring through a windshield.
So, what do I do during all this driving?
I have two modes.
Mode one is blasting ’90s hip-hop while performing what I firmly believe are Grammy-worthy concerts from the driver’s seat.
Mode two is audiobooks.
Lately I’ve been on a serious audiobook kick. It’s probably not the most educational use of my time because I’m almost always listening to fiction instead of something that would actually make me a better person.
But honestly?
Life is serious enough. Sometimes escaping into someone else’s story is exactly what I need.
One unexpected perk of all this driving is the one-on-one time with my kids.
It’s funny how different they are when they’re alone.
Without a sibling around to interrupt, tease, or argue over who got more air conditioning on their side of the backseat, they actually talk.
Really talk.
Those conversations are some of my favorite parts of parenting.
Put them both in the car together, though…
Suddenly I’m less of a chauffeur and more of a referee.
Sibling negotiations should probably count as continuing education for my nursing license.
As for the challenge I gave myself in my last post, I can’t exactly report major progress.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the book I want to write. I have the basic plot floating around in my head, but so far that’s exactly where it’s stayed.
In my head.
No words on paper yet.
Thankfully, the next couple of days aren’t nearly as hectic.
I’m hoping to spend less time in the driver’s seat and more time in front of my laptop.
We’ll see which one actually happens.
Stay tuned.