Our Day

It all started a couple of weeks ago when Sean asked me to get the tires rotated and balanced. The first three times I attempted I was thwarted by waiting rooms full of people getting snow tires. After the third time the salesman said, "you can go to our website and make an appointment." I felt like crying, why couldn't they have told me this the first time I came in?

Today was the fateful day. I packed up Jack and put his favorite toy of the moment, an old wet-one container full of match box cars, in the diaper bag. We arrived a few minutes early, and to my utter astonishment I was the only customer there. Where were the loads of people who had been here every other time I came in, in the last two weeks? Ugh.

After checking in, Jack and I pulled out his cars and snacks, and were ready for the half an hour or so of wait. Then all of a sudden Jack is up and running toward the door. I am totally confused, he was loving his cars a second ago. I think to myself, "there is no way he will get that big glass door open" but before my thought was finished he was out the door and running. I throw the cars, fruit snacks and blanket back in the diaper bag and bolt for the door. I see Jack approaching the garage. I catch up to him and realize that he is in a panic, he is saying over and over "ma car" (mom's car) and pointing to my car that is being pulled into the stall. I pick him up and try to explain that they are going to fix it and then give it back. Nothing I can say will calm him down. Then Jack, who is practically falling out of my arms because he is trying so hard to get down, starts yelling "mine." The workers are just staring at me and I am completely at a loss as what to do. So I bribe him, "Mommy has a surprise for you inside." He stops yelling and looks at me, his little face saying that this surprise better be worth it. I start to walk back inside, thinking of what I packed that I could get away with as a surprise. Then I remember a stub of crayon we found in church two weeks ago that I threw in my purse so he wouldn't eat it. I dig the crayon out of my purse, find some random flier on the coffee table and give it to Jack. He looks at me, looks at the crayon, ponders for a moment, then throws the crayon on the floor and heads for the door. Luckily I get to him before he opens it. I pick him up and show him that we can see the car from the inside, through the big glass window.

So we stood there for a half an hour watching the car, Jack babbling the whole time and obviously still upset. His words were mostly gibberish with a few car, ma and mine thrown in. I was still trying to figure out how he could be so concerned, maybe he thinks that they are taking the car away forever, or maybe he thinks we will leave without it.

Finally they are finished, all four tires are back on the car and they are getting ready to back it out. Jack realizes that the car, without us in it, is moving again. He pushes away from me and heads for the door, ready to do whatever it takes to get to that car. But the car stops right outside the door and so Jack stops. I had, by this time, caught up to him and picked him up, to prevent further wanderings. The worker came around with the car keys and such, he hands them to me and right as he is about to tell me how it went Jack interrupts him. "Ma car, mine," said with such authority that the worker starts laughing, meanwhile Jack is looking right at me, not the worker. Then Jack says it even louder, "ma car, mine" to which I reply "good job Jack you found mommy's car". I realized that he thought I had lost the car and he was helping me get it back. He then says, "goo jo" and reaches for the door to the car. In his mind, mission accomplished.