D-Day Has Begun

The Day of the Diss

Photo courtesy of iStock zdravinJo..

I just can't win with her. No matter what I do, I get the same results. I'm tired and fed up, but what else is new. To top my day off, surely I didn't deserve what was going to happen next.

We (Savannah, who is in elementary school, and I) dropped Olivia off at school, as is our normal routine and perused the grocery store aisles for the next 45 minutes in an effort to save money on gas and my sanity. With Savannah's school-day beginning one hour later from Olivia's (who is in Junior High), I wasn't going to be spending the majority of that time on travel, wasting time and money. (Although, looking back on my day, perhaps that: travel, was just what I needed.)

Now, I don't really like grocery shopping with my ten-year-old because I have a difficult time saying no to the purchases she wants. However, I have said the ‘No’ word often enough that she doesn't enjoy going to the grocery store anymore (hooray). However, I figure, if I can make the excursion fun for her, in turn I'll have fun.

I think of something, an activity for her to complete at the same time, which doesn't cost me anything.

Lately, my husband and I have been discussing letting the kids make dinner for us one night a week. So, I'll give her this opportunity to walk through the aisles and get ideas of simple recipes/foods to make. Don't worry- Mom, aka me, is standing by with a phone/camera to take a picture of all the foods she wants to use. She's having fun, smiling at the camera/phone while using her creative imagination, making meal ideas in her head.

Time's up. School is about to begin and we shuffle to the car but the car won't start. Classic.

My resort? I call my husband.

After proudly grabbing the battery-pack from the back seat, I attach the connecting cables to their respective places on the other battery, under the hood. Nothing.

In a panic effort, I resort to calling my beau again, which doesn't always help.

"Is the switch on?" he asked.

"What switch? Where? What color is it? How big is it? Do you push it or flip it? How do I know if it's on? There's a line on one side of a could-be switch and a circle on the other side of the could-be switch. What does that mean?"

If we are playing Pictionary here, I give up. And if this is some special code in hieroglyphics, nobody told me about it.

Helpful, my beau told me I must have left the battery-pack 'on' from the last time I had used it (which was only a few days ago- apparently, I do this a lot:) and the battery must be dead.

Helpful, but not useful. Really.

I proudly grab the jumper cables from the back seat and ask the woman in the parking spot next to me if she wouldn't mind "popping" the hood of her car. She maneuvers her car perpendicular to the hood of my car. We search for the latch on her brand-new Toyota Sienna which should be where the latch is located on most-other vehicles.

But it's not. We can't find it. Neither can the gentleman who was walking towards us and had offered us help.

In an attempt to revive my dead battery, he agrees to pull his truck beside my vehicle. We connect the clamps to their appropriate places on our batteries, I press my foot on the brake, push the ignition button and hear a 'click,' but nothing more.

Pretending that didn't-just-happen, I push the button again and.... nothing. Really?

"How about we make sure the connections are tight," and he played with the cables for a bit.

"Try it again," he said.

"V-room," the engine kicked over and we're off to school. I'm happy.

My happy-go-lucky daughter, Savannah, isn't so happy though. Because we arrive at school a bit later than usual (but still on time), she doesn't want to go. Really? Of course.

Of course, I'm super happy that my car started, spent some quality time with my daughter and we're still on time. "Bye, have a good day honey. I love you," as I always say.

SLAM- the car door shuts in my face and she walks to the front entrance of the school. Really? Has my ten-year-old just dissed me? Um, hello?

Agitated, but accepting of this newfound attitude from her, I decide I better go to the gym and release my pent-up frustration over this situation.

However, when I arrive, I realize I am hungry, and the only form of payment accepted is cash (which I never carry) or credit (which I left in my other purse back home). I could use Apple Pay on my phone but the gym doesn't accept Apple Pay. Really.

My day is just getting better.

I resorted to calling my beau again.

Helpful again, because he advised me to come to his work where I could charge the battery-pack and useful, because he said he would give me some cash.

Although, not so useful because I forgot to get the cash.

Thankfully, Apple Pay was there to save the day.

However, en-route back to the gym, I realize the gas tank is almost empty as the orange light appears. Really?

My day isn’t over yet.

Get this:

I drive by Stewart's deciding I've wasted too much time already and opting not to get coffee.

Instead, I stop at a gas pump at the Mobil and head in to prepay for gas and grab a protein bar. Because I can't not-talk to the person in line behind me, she informs me she has just won $20K from a scratch-off ticket at Stewart's (perhaps I should have gone there).

Soon to be working my frustrations out at the gym, another frustration arrives when the cashier says, "Our system is down. We only accept cash."

Really? (Note to self: Always carry cash.)

My mind says, "I've already passed multiple gas stations. Let’s just hope I can make it home."

Luckily, I do (make it home). I grab my other purse and head to the nearest gas station, on the way to pick up my happy-go-lucky ten-year-old daughter.

As if nothing was wrong and she didn't have a care in the world, she comes running toward the car. "Mommy! Mommy? Guess what?"

Enthralled at her enthusiasm for such a grudgingly, disappointing morning, I admire her energy and youthfulness....

But she doesn't know the half of it!

Is it my injury (me), just a bad day, or the overwhelming flow of surprises (both positive and negative) that we (parents) are forced to deal with?

I think all of the above are accurate, but one thing is for sure: one has to be prepared for the unexpected to occur.

As much as I remind myself of the previous adage, I can't help but be human and remind myself that tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes and avalanches will happen, whether we are ready for them or not. The question is: what will you do to prepare yourself?