Sometimes the best choice you can make is to turn around and walk away because the father you just cut off didn’t slam on his brakes and lay upon the horn for fun.
He or should I say ‘I’ didn’t have any interest in adding to the noise pollution and chaos of rush hour but sometimes situations call for split-second decisions.
I chose to hit the horn and hoped the fool in the Ford stopped his forward momentum and prayed my daughter and I wouldn’t get smacked.
It is possible my prayers consisted of four letter words and thoughts about how much effort it would take to remove his arm from his body so that I could slap some sense into him.
What Happened Next
The fool in the Ford unrolled his window and issued a single finger salute and I responded with an extended toot on the horn and my best thousand mile stare.
Daughter said “Daddy, stop honking. What if he comes over here?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise if he is dumb enough to get out of the car he’ll make Flat Stanley look fat.”
She giggled and told me to be smart.
“You are not Superman.”
“No, I am Wolverine.”
“You don’t have the claws.”
“That is for everyone else’s safety. If I had those claws I’d be unstoppable. Now, I am just partially stoppable.”
She rolled her eyes, but smiled at me and we went about our business.
The Road Not Taken
We shared the quiet and for a brief time I drove in silence and then I told her again I was serious about making sure no harm came to her.
She smiled and told me she knew that and I smiled back at her and thought about something her older brother said to me.
“Dad, if someone shot you I am sure you would get him before he got to us, but you would still probably die.”
It wasn’t said with any sort of bravado or given any sort of dressing.
The words were commentary tied into a longer conversation about safety and the world and they were bittersweet to me.
I appreciated the faith and was glad that even as a teen he still believes that his old man will do everything he can to protect him.
But he is old enough to know and understand there are limits to what a person can do and though it is good for him to understand there is a piece of me that wishes the kids still saw me as Superman.
Not because of my ego but because that sort of faith is a gift and once the innocence is gone, well life changes a bit.
The wind blows a bit harder and winter is a bit colder. It is a part of growing up but I would extend their childhood and some fictions for a little bit longer if I could.
It is part of why I am leaving on the next great adventure. If it goes as I hope I’ll be able to do more for my family.
500 Illiterate Bloggers Blow Bull For Swag
I shouldn’t be irritated by what others do.
It shouldn’t irk me to read posts written by hacks who hit the blogosphere for free products, trips and garb but sometimes it does.
Some will call it jealousy but I don’t.
I could blow the bull for swag.
I could swallow the load and smile knowing that I was gaming the system but I just can’t do it.
Don’t misunderstand that to me that I take issue with all bloggers who write sponsored posts or share reviews because that is not true.
Sometimes you find those reviews here and sometimes the recaps of trips too.
But it is not what powers the blog or pushes me to post.
I am here because I love to write and it is probably unfair for me to complain about the illiterate hacks who haunt the blogosphere for other reasons.
But life isn’t always fair and I am as entitled as any other person with a blog and internet connection to write as I will.
Got one day left in LA, one day before I saddle up and go back to Texas.
One more day before I hug my kids goodbye and tell them I’ll see them soon not knowing what soon really means.
More than a day, maybe more than a month(s).
Done not because I am running away from them but because I am running for them.
It is with thought and with foresight and a plan that I set out on the next part of this journey.
Content with my choices doesn’t mean I like all that comes with them, just that I know what is required.
And that is what a good dad does, what is required.
It won’t be easy to just pick up and go but if it gives us the better life I expect it will then it will all be worth it.
Sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns to make changes and that is what I am doing here.
I could relate to this post on SO MANY levels. I’m a mom but I get all of it. My girls know that since they were tiny babies, whenever we encounter a crazy driver, I always say…if they hit us they better hope they kill me because if they hurt my children, I’m going to hobble over to their car and beat their ass. You know because I’m the ghetto-ist suburban mom there ever was. ( really, I am. It was a very narrow escape from my childhood;)
And I get the writing for the love of writing. I was very “fight the power” for many years but I too do some sponsored content but mostly, I write because it’s the only way I know how to process this crazy life of mine.
Also, I am new to reading you but the leaving to provide better for your family, my husband did this when our girls were small. Warning commuter marriage sucks but it can work, as long everyone involved keeps there eye on the end goal. It took us 2 years and our girls were 2 and 4…it really sucked but we survived and in the end it was what we needed to do to make things more financially sound.
Good luck on your next adventure and thanks for stopping by the blog. I’m glad you did because now, I found your writing. I look forward to reading more. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to read anyone new. Great post.
Keep on keeping on Superman.
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for coming by. If danger towards our kids doesn’t bring out the grizzly I don’t know what will. I am not saying it is a license to over react, but if it doesn’t make you bristle…
It would be wrong to say I despise and dislike people who produce sponsored posts or review products because I have done that and still do from time to time.
I am just prickly about the really bad writers who do it. Some might call it blog envy, some might call it something else.
As for commuting, well I figure if it provides a better life for the kids it is ok to engage in some sacrifice for a while. It might not be perfect and it might be hard but we do what we can to help our kids and that is usually enough for me.
Hope to see you here again.
Deb, you found this place – it is a good place.
Bookmark and visit often.
Nicole.
ps. miss you
The Flat Stanley line was funny.
However, I think your daughter is right. Sometimes you sound too ready for a fight.
Got to do as the Boy Scouts say, Be prepared. 😉