Certifiably Crazy, Chapter Two

My husband is gone again this week. This is week 3 of 4 consecutive weeks of business trips. It is also the last week--hopefully--of the baseball season that just doesn't want to end. Rain-outs have extended our season about 3 weeks past when it was supposed to end, but we--well, actually, me--are gritting our teeth and trying to persevere through 2 more days. My youngest son had a game last night, and since I had logged roughly130 miles running the kids to all of their morning activities, and when I filled the gas tank, it was a whopping $58, I got this AMAZING idea that the kids and I should ride our bikes there.


One adult, four children


Here are some of the highlights:

• The ten minutes it took to get bikes unloaded out of a garage full of enough pressure-treated lumber to construct a deck the size of a football field, or so it seems
  
  
• Searching frantically in said garage for a Disney Princess bike helmet



• Arguing with a child about the wearing of bike helmets



• Listening to my oldest son sing nonsense verses to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the entire 3 mile trip, just to annoy his older sister



• Riding behind the youngest child whose little legs are just "going to town" to try to keep up, all the while doing a pedal; slam on brakes to keep from running into the back of youngest child...pedal; slam on brakes to keep from running into the back of youngest child...for the entire trip



• Riding through the "ritzy" part of town and having my youngest son say, "Wow, Mom! These are some REALLY NICE yards compared to ours."



• Carting not only ourselves on this trek, but also snacks, baseballs, gloves, and a bat



• The roughly 200 yards (that seemed like 200 miles) of sidewalk that we had to ride on that was right next to an extremely busy street, where we were facing oncoming traffic. It is at that point, that you even doubt the 12 year-old's ability to maneuver a bike, and are seriously wondering why you didn't just load everyone into the gas-guzzling, bad for the environment, no potential for exercise, SUV, because you would be much more likely to make it home with everyone still alive.

Suffice it to say, that we all made it home in one piece, and actually had a pretty good time in the process, but I am still wondering why these moments of insanity creep up on me when there is no responsible adult around to steer me in a more sane direction!