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Amanda's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 4/9/07 -------------------- 3/12/07 2/16/07 1/5/07 11/29/06 11/13/06 10/27/06 10/11/06 9/19/06 8/13/06 7/30/06 7/19/06 7/15/06 7/4/06 6/26/06 6/21/06 6/19/06 -------------------- Amanda's Introduction

Planes, trains, and automobiles

January 5, 2007

    As some of you may have noticed, I have a rather bah-humbug attitude towards the commercialism of the holidays and of society in general.  The chase after "stuff" has indebted this country to the extent that an AP article I read the other day pointed out the average American adult owes $19,000 on credit cards and over $96,000 in mortgage.  That's the average-- so think about how many renters you know and balance that against those McMansions going up in the pricey cul-de-sacs, and you get an idea of where the money is-- or isn't.  Americans also have more problems with obesity and heart-disease related health problems than any other country on earth.  Most people say they don't work out because they don't have time.  Why don't they have time?  Because they have to work to pay their bills.  What bills?  The credit card that paid for greasy dinners out because they were working to pay off the credit card and didn't have time to cook!  It's a vicious cycle.  I've bought into it like everyone else.  I see the expensive hand-carved Noah's Ark toy and I would love to get that for my son.  Or the personalized sweatshirt that looks so cute that would just match... the twenty other sweatshirts he already has.  When I find a suit that fits my yo-yo waistline (I love holiday food!) I want to buy four in different colors.  Never mind that I already have work clothes and would then be stuck wearing that cut of suit for another three years to make such an expenditure worth it...

    But my point is not to lecture-- most moms of young children are very, very active, and most of us are really frugal, too.  I haven't met a mom who didn't roll her eyes at some of the talking, space-grabbing, battery-requiring holiday gifts given by well-meaning relatives, and I haven't met a kid under 5 who couldn't be bothered with those toys if there was a dog, a sandbox, or a pots-and-pans drumset available. 

    What I do want to do is describe the most exhausting and rewarding outing I have ever been on.  It was this week Wednesday, and my husband has our only car at work all week (two more weeks, and another car should be possible!).  After two days of being stuck in the house and yard, Cai was bored with even his toy train.  The noisy toys?  They had been gathering dust since the day after Christmas-- too many, and they were built so that they couldn't be taken apart, or configured with other toys. His favorite toy after the train was a system of canals with boats that I had found in a friend's alley the day after Christmas! So we eschewed the stroller (too bulky for the bus) and hiked the five blocks up to the bus stop.  That was sooooo slow-- every stick, every leaf was interesting.  Plus he'd never been on such a long walk without the stroller before, so he was asking for "pick up?"  every half block.  Bad mommy!  I was just debating turning around and going home when Cai spied an earth mover at the local cement supply company.  A break!  We sat down across the street to watch as it filled a dump truck with sand.  When it was full and the man got out, I started to rouse Cai to continue our journey.  Then the man, whose named turned out to be Rick, walked across the street and offered Cai a ride!  He drove Cai around and moved the bucket up and down, then let him honk the horn of the dump truck.  It was an amazing moment, and worth the long hike already.  People can be so amazing.

    We got to the bus stop and waited.  Cai is just learning about people (before he couldn't be bothered if there was anything mechanical nearby), and kept saying, "Big guy!  Big brown guy!  Big guy sit down!"  Everyone just smiled and laughed.  We got to the metrolink (light rail system) and Cai was pumped about going on the "choo choo train!"  On the way up to the airport he charmed a few more people, including a young woman who gave him a squeaky toy to play with.  After traveling all the way across town, we arrived at the airport.  Just off the metro platform is a huge bank of windows that overlooks the busiest tarmac.  We can see planes "parking" and "backing up", and then over the gate we can see them take off.  We got a meal at the airport Burger King (next time I will pack a lunch, as it was sloooooow) and sat in front of the windows for almost an hour talking about the planes.  He ended up on my lap as we leaned back against the window-posts and watched.  It was perfect.

    Then we made the whole trip in reverse.  Even though it was already his nap time, he did what he was asked, he didn't get crabby, and he walked all but two blocks of the way home.  When we got home, he said, "Thank you, Mommy"-- wow.  All he could talk about when his dad got home was the planes and trains and buses.  $3 and a morning of focus on my part, and we had a morning that memories are made of.  All of my focus is usually on "more, more, more"-- and if I had been working, I'd have missed this adventure.  When I got home, I canceled a catalogue order I'd made for curtains I didn't need, and I spent some free time Thursday checking course books out from the library and saving about $300 in the process.  That's two or three days I won't have to work in the long run.  I'm stepping off the hamster wheel-- there's too much to see when I stop chasing my own tail!