The Things We Ask

Yesterday I was making a dessert for dinner at a friend's house when I discovered that I was out of flour. Katie was down for a nap and I couldn't wait on Chris to bring it home from work so I had no choice but to call on the neighbor. Normally I wouldn't have hesitated, but it was pouring down rain outside. Well, given my current situation, I decided to call on my loving daughter Stephanie to do my dirty work. I assumed she would give me fits for sending her across the street in the rain, but she was quite willing and agreeable as she usually is for such 'borrowing trips'. I geared her up with an umbrella and then handed her a container to carry the flour in. After struggling to even hold up the umbrella(I really do need to by her a kid size umbrella) and then trying to juggle the container too she looked at me with this serious look and said..."Mom, I'll go and come right back with the umbrella and get the container, I promise." I just about died right there. I proceded to tell her that that wouldn't work and so I thought for a moment and decided that a plastic bag to put the container in and then over her arm would be best and off she went. As I went in the house, I reflected on what had just happened. I was just looking myself in the face. So many times I have seen myself in my children, but this time I really struck a nerve. You see, there was a time when I was in elemtary school that I had to take and exam for the gifted and talented program. My mom told me that I probably wouldn't make it in because I had no common sense. She was right. I came home from school that day and asked my mom about one of the test questions. The question was "In order to teach, a teacher must have a. students b. text books or c. a classroom. " I told my mom that I figured you didn't have to have books or a classroom, but you had to have teachers. And my reply was, "Is that one of those common sense questions you were talking about?" I would like to think that I have lots more common sense these days, but I sure hope that my children gain that at a much earlier age. I took a few pictures to help remind me of this event. My Stephanie was such a trooper and didn't even know she had caused me to have such a chuckle!