Can I Get Up Now?

Kiss The Butt If Necessary

I'm not supposed to be in blog world today. I am up to my ears in work this week but this is what's on my mind and I need to clear it.

This morning Middlest woke up on the wrong side of the bed with her butt in place of her head. By the time we were ready to leave we were all about fed up with her and I told her," You can improve your attitude right now or take your bike to school." It was cold and dark but she chose to ride her bike rather than be pleasant. "Fine," I told her, "Go for it." When I walked outside to drive Littlest and saw her pulling her bike out I did mention, "You need to be careful. With the time change people will be driving tired and it's dark." She didn't answer, she was too busy being pissy and I didn't say anything else either because I wasn't in the mood to deal with a butt.

I am always a cautious driver. In the mornings I am on high alert watching for kids on bikes and walking. This morning I kept my own warning in mind and was especially careful. I was driving into a pit of overtired people who had become used to daylight driving and incautious teenagers on their way to school. After I dropped off Lit I watched out for Mid on her bike during my drive home but never saw her. It was alright. My child made it to school safely this morning. Today was some other parents worst nightmare.

Today when Mid reached her first class period one of her classmates was absent.

Shortly after I arrived home my husband left for work. Just a few minutes later he called me. Heading to the convenience store for coffee he was met by a closed off road in front of the store. There had been a bad accident, he said. A highschool kid on a vespa type scooter had been hit by a car. Life Flight had been called in. He was very upset. "His tennis shoes are laying there," he said.

I do not know this boy or his family. But I feel like my heart was ripped out. We live in a small town. Routine breeds familiarity. Just a few weeks ago, before she changed schools, I took a different route in the morning to take Littlest to her bus stop and would drop Mid there to walk the last block to school. Every morning as I came out through the neigborhood that leads to the main road I would stop at the stop sign. The oncoming traffic was on a curve. Every morning I waited an extra beat and thought, Where's scooter boy? Because almost like clock work he would round the corner and I would stay put till he passed. Then continue on to the main road intersection that scooter boy had turned off at,  one block past where the accident happened this morning. He didn't make it to the turn. Someone blew into the turn lane in front of the store and without stopping proceeded to cross the road into the parking lot. Except there was a problem. There wasn't an opening in the traffic. There was a seventeen year old boy on his way to school there. He wasn't wearing a helmet. Our midday news reported that he is in critical condition.

Back when I first started my other blog my fourth post was this one. Hug Your Babies..Every Day. It was a day when a six year old girl had disappeared from my town. The final result was horrifying. But in that post I said this,

"No matter how tired you are, no matter how awful they have been, no matter how huge, old or ornery they are, Hug your babies. Every Day. "

I would like to add,  tell them you love them and kiss them too. Even if it requires kissing a butt.

And drive safely people. Let's watch out for other peoples babies as we hope they are watching out for ours.