On Being a Ferry

I never was any good at the whole Mom-as-a-taxi thing. I always figured that since I work more than one job and run the household, I don't have time to drive children to activities I have to pay for them to participate in, especially if it involves hours of hot traffic jams.

But there is always something about looking into your child's eyes and seeing how much they want to play soccer or whatever the activity is that makes you do it anyway. I always did it with lots of complaining and constant reminders of how they should appreciate the sacrifice I was making and what it was costing me to allow them to do this. You owe me, honey.

Isn't it a delight to know you are such a beast? I clearly see in living color all the places where I am less than perfect and far too human. I did lots of activities when I was in high school, but we lived within two miles of the school back in an era when there were safe communities and you could walk down the street without being accosted.

Nowadays we live far from our places of school and work, too far to reasonably walk where we need to be. We rely so much more on independent transportation capability. Still, my parents didn't ferry me about, and I saw no reason to cater to my own brood, especially since I homeschooled most of the boys for their elementary education and part of their high school inasmuch as I was able. We made our own field trips and activities and did things together at convenient times.

In fact, there have been plenty of times in my life when I had no vehicle and found myself walking everywhere. When the older boys were just babies, I used to pile the dirty laundry into a red wagon, slap the baby on my back, tuck the middle kid in with the laundry, take the oldest by the hand and walk to the laundromat downtown every week.

It wasn't so bad getting there since our little apartment sat on the top of a huge hill and we sort of coasted all the way to the bottom. I dragged detergent and coins and bottles and diaperbags and water along. The boys played with the laundry baskets, pushing them about and chasing each other while the clothes were processed.

Then we piled everything back in the red wagon and the long trek up the huge hill began. Some days we were lucky to have overcast skies and warm weather. Other times it was too cold or too hot. Once in awhile it rained and we would run the rest of the way home once we had scaled the heights. Winters were wicked.

Having to walk to work and markets and church sometimes as car situations changed made me fiercely determined not to let some little transportation issue keep me from doing what needed to be done. It also gave me a healthy appreciation for reliable cars - and I have been blessed when others enabled me to get needed transportation. I have a particular fondness for a dear benefactor couple who helped me get my current car.

I find it very satisfying to be able to help someone in need of transportation, and lately have had the honor of playing that role for several people. I suspect as the economics tighten I will be able to help in this way more often. I am extremely grateful that I current have the ability to help out in this way. I just pray for the grace to do it with a tender heart and a joyful attitude.