Something I would not do by myself...

I am NOT great with directions,(in college a friend called me "the navigator", 'cause I got us lost) so one thing I would not do by myself, let alone with the kids in tow, is to try to go someplace I've only been there from one direction and now try to find my way out in another direction. Did that make any sense? I've been to this one neighborhood by car coming from the west but today we were trying to ride our bikes out of it to the east after an already long bike ride. I would have been afraid to get lost and the kids get too "tired" to go on. My husband has (1) a much better sense of direction than me and (2) much more patience than me. I wish I was much better at both.

Today my husband bribed my kids to go on a longer bike ride by telling them that we would get to an ice cream shop in the middle of the ride. We started off on our standard bike ride, then took a different turn to head to the library, to borrow some movies (remember, I said I was cheap), then thru an unfamiliar (nice) neighborhood to the ice cream shop and then home. During this trip we went through a horrible intersection. I'm glad it had crossing lights or else I would have said "not a chance", with 2 kids on bikes who aren't yet ready to cross a busy street by themselves. I know that they weren't by themselves but even with us, they do not necessarily make the right choices yet. And these poor choices could leave them in the hospital or worse. Those few minutes were way too stressful for me to ever decide to inflict myself to again. I would rather jay"walk" a little way down the street instead, less cars and only coming from 2 directions. Is that bad?

I so wish that I was as laid back as my husband. Most things do not bother him. I wish I could say the same for myself. (Maybe that is part of why I have ulcers.) My husband is away for a camping weekend with "the boys", his college friends. I think this year it will be his 23rd yr. So the kids are all mine 'till he comes home sunday morning. "I will survive this summer. I will survive this summer. I will survive this summer." Sometimes I think that I would be better off with girls, I seem to have problems with "boys will be boys" but I'm trying...

Tomorrow, while the kids play video games for a little while, I'll sew...I hope.