Wordless Wednesday - Bend it like Beckham

Everything else can wait...

I live in Los Angeles and a commute is part of my daily life.  It's inevitable you need a car to get anywhere in this metropolitan city, it was not built to be the most transit friendly.  Los Angeles is actually considered on of the worst commutes in America   Thing One and Things Two have no choice but to be strapped into a car seat for hours on end to get anywhere fun. JOY!  Two toddlers in the back of the smallest car ever and Mami in the front seat chatting her little heart away because she knows I have no where to run to and have no choice but to listen.  Distractions are just waiting in that car.  Can I just say a Toyota Tercel was never meant to be a family car, but it is my circumstances right now and I deal with it. 

A commute anywhere with all three of my passengers is a challenge to say the least.  Add rain to the commute of a Southern California driver and it's just a hot mess.  I have to be extra aware of not just my driving but the driving of others. This is when I remember my driver's ed teacher in High School "BE A DEFENSIVE DRIVER". Nothing matters more than the people in my car, especially my babies. 

Saturday morning we ventured off to an early Gymboree play and movement class because we had a birthday party later on that day.  Normally I wouldn't be on the freeway this early in the morning.  Rain was looming over our commute, not a drizzle but definitely dark clouds hanging out. Mami as usual was chatting away, and the Things were comfortably snoozing to the mind numbing sounds of Rock-a-bye lullabies.  Twenty minutes into our commute home there it was, dust,  the sound and smell of screeching tires rubbing against the pavement.  It was on the left hand side of the freeway and we were in the slow lane. I could clearly see that this car was in trouble.  If I didn't slow down I would be part of this trouble. The car careened and was spinning out of control across the freeway.  My heart was pounding as I saw it move closer and closer to us. Luckily I was not driving fast and I saw it the moment the car lost control.  I hit my breaks gently and watched helplessly.  The whole time my thoughts were on the safety of my babies and Mami. 

When it all ended the driver was facing my car the opposite direction of traffic.  I placed my hazards on and allowed the driver of the vehicle to compose themselves and move off to drive himself in the correct direction of traffic.  All cars on that highway were stopped and no one was hurt luckily.  This scenario could have had a different outcome, but people were driving to protect others that day.  No cell phones in hand, no changing of radio stations, no reaching back to break up children arguing or to reach a dropped toy.  When I got home and made sure everyone was safe in the house, I shook from stress and cried. 

The Friday night before I had settled in to read my latest edition of Parent magazine.  I read the article on The Most Dangerous Drivers.  As I was reading I was shocked that women are the most distracted drivers, mom specifically.  That evening I read through the Driver Pledge and thought about my own mistakes while driving.  The article saved my life and my children's lives.  Had I been distracted you would be reading about the horrible accident on the 605 instead of my account of the whole ordeal on a blog.  

If you're a parent, a driver, a passenger I highly recommend taking the time to look at the pledge.  It could be your life or the lives of someone's family you could be saving.  I know my eyes are WIDE open now. I don't want me and my family to be a statistic.

Simple Adventures

 

This giant grin from Thing One, you would think came from an adventure at Disneyland.  Oddly enough this grin was minus any animated character, complicated ride, or a whole paycheck worth of spending.  This my friends is a smile of pure joy from the most simplest activity. 

In this world of over exuberance and flashiness, "you must get the latest toy" it is the simple things that make a small child smile.  This smile was accomplished on a Sunday afternoon that I was minus a car because the darn thing was being worked on.  I needed to get a few small things for Thing Two's upcoming birthday party so I decided we were going on a new "adventure".  Our city has a local bus that can take you anywhere in the city for a total of $.40.  SWEET!  Children are free.  DOUBLE SWEET. 

I packed a back pack with snacks, diapers, wipes, and the bus schedule.  The 99 cent store is accross the street from the city park, and also where we would have to wait for the bus on the way back home.  I didn't expect both kids to be so happy and excited to get on public transportation. I normally am not excited OR happy about getting on public transportation. 

View from the bus.

We took longer to get where we were going and it took us longer to get home.  All Thing One could do would talk about the cars, the street, the people.  Amazing that the simple things we take for granted are big and great and exciting to a child.  We should all see things through the eyes of a child.  Maybe if we did we would encounter less depression and much happiness in the simpleness of life.  I'm glad I can experience these little moments through the eyes of my little ones. 

Next adventure...the subway. Where will your next simple adventure be?

Follow that Red Radio Flyer Wagon!

I have always wanted the classic Radio Flyer wagon.  My parents though it was silly and I never got one.  I wanted to haul around my stuffed animal, my collections of sea shells, and piles of dirt I had strewn all over the backyard.  Mami wouldn't hear of it, and Sarge (Dad) although in a very authortative career, never disagreed with Mami. So my dream of a Radio Flyer was never to be.

Fast Forward some 30 years.  I decide to take the Things to their first trip to the beach.  Yes, I was that INSANE!  Thing One was about 22 months and Thing Two was about 7 months old.  This was our first venture out without a friend or Mami coming along to help.  I made sure I packed everything and I would have a way to get them to the water and back.  What I didn't anticipate was how hard it would be to push a double stroller in the sand.  I ended up pulling them in the stroller, holding a beach bag and just being completely frustrated with it all.  At that moment I remembered my desire for that beautiful Red Radio Flyer Wagon.

I researched all types of wagons  within my budget.  My goodness that simple wagon had evolved!  There where collapsable wagons, which would have been perfect for space reasons.  I bought one at the county fair only to be disappointed in the quality of it and the fact that on it's first test run out in our neighborhood the front wheel fell off.  I promptly returned it and never looked at another collapsable wagons again.  I moved on to researching sturdier makes of wagons.  Some of them had these ENORMOUS wheels with room in the back for an ice chest.  I thought, seriously, where would I put that? More than likely it would sit in the garage until a MAJOR event, and not for maybe a daily stroll.  I really needed to find something in between those two extremes. 

Christmas rolled around and there I was browsing Walmart's web site when the curiousity about a wagon struck me again.  I searched wagons and low and behold, there it was with my favorite words on it, ON SALE! 

It had a canopy, big, but not bulky, storage space. PERFECT! I placed the order and got it just before Christmas.

The Things' Dad, Big Cheese was kind enough to put it together for the kids.  Not very many pieces to assemble, in fact it took him less than an hour to assemble the whole thing. We loaded the wagon into Big Cheese's SUV and went to the park.  

 

There is plenty of space to store items, sturdy cup holders for both children inside the wagon and outside for the parents.  I find that the back storage bag has plenty of space to hold blankets, spare diapers, etc. On one shopping trip to the grocery store I was able to fit a 12 pack of bottled water, 2 boxes of cereal, some bananas and a half gallon of milk. Even though the children's cup holder is inside on the floor, which could potentially be hard to reach for little hands or kicked by little feet, I like them.  The cup holders for the children have space for a sippy cup, or with it's design of cup holder, can actually hold a juice box. The cushioned seats have pockets for wallets, keys, and two cell phone holders.  I like that they are removable and easy to spot wash.  Manuveuring the wagon is pretty easy as well.  I'm able to move around tight corners with ease.  The canopy is a plus as well as it's ease in which I can take it off. It's great for shade and light sprinkles of rain.  I don't recommend it for a true rainy day.  I had to mention this because some people will actually use it in the rain and then all of a sudden, there is a recall.

We have not taken it out to the beach yet, but it's a fun to take the the kids around the neighborhood on nice days.  It's really funny now because when Thing One observes that I take out the wagon from the garage he immediately screams out "store, go bye bye!"  Funny little boy! I can't wait for future exiciting adventures with the Red Radio Flyer wagon with Things One and Two!