It was 36 degrees outside this morning when I dropped my
daughter off at the school bus.
Without a coat.
Or gloves.
I was choosing my battles.
As I pulled my coat out of the closet, I asked her again,
“Sure you don’t want to wear a coat?”
“No, I’m good,” she replied, as if we were talking about the
weather.
Oh, wait, we were. I suggested she open the front door and
step outside. As she did, I followed. I shivered, but she was undeterred.
“Won’t you be cold on the bus?” I asked.
She reminded me she was wearing a Columbia fleece jacket
over a t-shirt, and that the heat in the bus would be “blasting.”
She said she would be fine, but added, “Now, if you get a
call from the school because I’m purple, then you can say ‘I told you so.’”
Um, okay. I didn’t bother to tell her that if I got that
call, I wasn’t bringing her a coat. Because, really, does the school even call
for things like that?
The possibility scrolled through my head.
“Mrs. Rath? This is the school calling. Your daughter is
purple from being cold.”
“Thank you for calling. Please tell her, ‘I told you so.’”
Although I liked the sound of that conversation, it seemed
unlikely, so I moved on.
“How about gloves?” I asked. Just gloves with no coat—that’s
cool, right?
She didn’t go for it. So, with my coat zipped up, I headed
out to the car…with my coat-less, glove-less daughter.
Did I mention she was also wearing capris?
I didn’t even go there. Because, well, she looked cute in
her capris, Columbia jacket, and white tennis shoes.
So, I drove her to the school bus reminding myself that sometimes
you just have to let these “mom things” go. Her time outside would be limited,
and I wasn’t going to worry about it.
As we approached the bus, I asked, “Pull up to the bus, or
around the corner?”
“Pull up to the bus. Then I don’t have to walk as far in the
cold.”
Uh huh. Good idea.
In Christ,
Laura
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