cushtie.com

Moving children

I took the afternoon off today, so I could pick up Destroyer from her school. I also rode my bike to work today, and after getting stuck in a conversation with a coworker and leaving later than I should have done, I was bombing across town with minutes to spare. Still, I made it to 64th and 24th in time.
Unfortunately, i needed to get to 64th and 32nd, which meant I arrived in a panicked, sweaty mess (even with electrical assistance, or perhaps because today the sun came out when I had dressed for yesterday’s cold weather). I loaded Destroyer onto the back of the bike and we rode home quite happily, my younger daughter occasionally telling me things about dogs, or being happy when we went over a bump.

She played happily at home for a while, after I took her up to the bike shop to get a new helmet (her old one has had lots of bumps and is getting quite old, plus it doesn’t fit very well). Then I had lunch with my wife, and when she went off to collect our duvet from the laundry, I went back out on my bike with Destroyer, to pick up La Serpiente.

I’m the last two weeks I’ve put in about 50 miles on the bike, a third of my total usage. After feeling guilty that I haven’t been using it enough to justify the purchase, the better weather and increased errands are making it seem worthwhile again.

So I picked up La Serpiente and then took both children to a cafe for a snack. Having both of them on the back is a bit more difficult to handle; I’m not sure how long that will work. But we got to the coffee shop and endured a few tantrums. Destroyer wanted an enormous cookie. I declined. I offered them half a pain au chocolat each; La Serpiente was happy, Destroyer demanded a macaron. And then when she finished her macaron, got in a rage that she couldn’t have a pain au chocolat as well. Oh dear.

We rode home, and while La Serpiente entertained herself with books, Destroyer lay on me and screamed and wept until my jeans were damp. Usually it’s La Serpiente who struggles to find something to do on her own, so this reversal was a bit hard to handle.

Eventually I persuaded her to eat an orange and this perked her up – had she just been hangry? – and we went to the park, and then I got an Uber to the airport, ate an Impossible burger, felt bad about my life choices, boarded a plane, and now here I am on the final descent to San Jose. That’s enough transportation for one day, surely?

Exit mobile version