OH! I almost forgot!!

Just a small update on my rant/weird way God is messing with my head.

Remember the lady I ranted about who can't seem to be courteous in dropping off her child? Well, I volunteered in B's school today, and of course, the kid was in one of the groups I worked with. She said to me, "you come here a lot." Uh, yeah. Duh. It's my kid. Of course I go there a lot. I smiled and told her I'm on the schedule to come regularly. "Why?" "Because I want to help in your class." "That's weird." "Why is that weird?" At which point, the teacher's aide interrupted and said, "It's not weird, it's wonderful." The kid shook her head and said, "No, it's weird. But I like having you." She smiled and finished working on her project.

And then I noticed the other teacher taking out the homework folders and sorting them. First, I was appalled that these folders, which get sent home every week and are supposed to be worked on nightly, were only returned by 3 out of the nearly 30 students. This little girl-she wasn't one of the ones who turned hers in.

As I worked with the kids, I realized she was in the "slow group"-the kids who just don't seem to "get it" quite yet. I listened as she chattered away about a lot of things, but mostly, I realized that this little girl is starving for attention. And I began thinking about the mom, who I just want to kill on a good day, is probably really stressed about whatever it is going on in her life, and it's so overwhelming that she can't take the time to properly park to drop off her child, or help her child with her homework, or participate in her child's school. I started to feel bad for the mom, because she's got this little girl, who is really cute, really sweet, and mom is too stressed out to realize it. Or maybe mom does realize it, but she's got so much on her plate that she doesn't think she can do anything about it. Or maybe the kid is such a handful that she is going insane.

Either way, it doesn't really matter. I felt a lot of compassion for this woman that I only knew as the rude lady in the Subaru. I felt a lot of compassion for this little girl (who is still a little on the irritating side). And I realized that the last thing either of them need is some angry woman who wants to blow them up but really has nothing so pressing to do that waiting while they stop in the middle of the street is going to end the world. Crazy of me, I know, but I wondered what kindness the woman is missing in her life, and if in some way, I could show some of it to her and ease whatever load she's bearing.

Life was so much more fun when I wanted to blow everything up. ;)