"Dancing with the Stars" is back on the air - which means I'm the designated driver on Monday nights again (because one of the other two moms in our gymnastics carpool works on the show).
The girls work out until 9:00 each night at a gym 35 miles from here, but it takes a good 40 minutes to make the drive - so we don't get home until close to 10:00 PM. Naturally, I'm always rushing them out...
...so I was not surprised when we got home on Monday and Megan realized she'd left her backpack at gym.
We expect a lot from her: she excels at school, at gym and is getting ready for her Bat Mitzvah (despite the fact that she only goes once per week instead of twice, because she spends so much time at gym). I can't be too upset with her when she forgets things. Even if she wasn't trying to keep track of a zillion things in her head, she has a disadvantage: as my daughter, she's inherited a certain level of absent-mindedness.
I have always chalked mine up to being a writerly type; I am rarely in the present and have always lived a rich life in my head. My dad is kind of the same way. Add in a schedule and juggling multiple deadlines and balls - or backpacks - get dropped.
I called the gym and got voice mail, which was no surprise - it was after 10:00 and I didn't really expect them to still be open.
If they had, would I have driven there and back that night? Yes, I think so. My kid kills herself to get her homework done in the hour she has from the time we get to the gym until her workout starts (at 5:00). She gets up early to take care of anything she hasn't finished -- and Monday night, that included four algebra problems. They don't cut her a lot of slack at her middle school - I hated to see her be penalized because I rushed her out the door without noticing she was missing something.
Besides, she was distraught. I don't think she would have been able to sleep Monday night if I hadn't promised her that I'd go back to the gym FIRST THING in the morning - after dropping her off at school. I also wrote four separate teacher notes, explaining exactly why she did not have her homework and begging them to excuse her for turning it in late.
She was pretty silent on the way to school yesterday - only speaking up to ask me when I thought I'd deliver the backpack. I mentally ticked off the time: the gym's recorded message stated that they open at 9:00, so even if I left right away, I wouldn't be able to get in until then - and there was no guarantee that anyone would actually be there so early. I estimated that I'd get back to school around 10:00 - or maybe 10:30.
"I won't have it in time for algebra," she sighed. Tuesdays are short days at Los Angeles schools, and the periods are condensed. She would be more than halfway through her day.
I dropped her off, I bought gas... and then I stopped at Starbucks for some caffeinated driving assistance. I was on the freeway at 8:30.
I was driving against the direction of traffic, and the roads were clear. So were the skies. I was passing through the Santa Susana mountains and into Simi Valley, which is verdantly green right now, thanks to the recent rains (the color of the hillsides is usually light brown). When the 118 turns into the 23 (towards the Reagan Library), the view is magnificent. With no kids in the backseat, I was able to turn my music way up. It was glorious.
I remembered how much I USED to enjoy just going out for a drive - a pasttime that few of us will be able to indulge in the coming era of environmental correctness. Even without environmental concerns, I find myself mired in my daughter's orbit. I don't stray too far, lest traffic keep me from getting back in time to get her from school. My leased car has a mileage limit. Gas is expensive.
I know we need to go green -- but I do mourn the end of driving for fun. When I was young, I would often spend an entire Saturday alone with my thoughts, just driving through the different canyons of L.A.: Laurel... Sunset... Topanga... Box... with occasional side trips along Mulholland Drive. I worked out a lot of my problems that way. I also worked up little writing projects. (As I said - I spend a lot of time living in my head.)
I made it to the gym at 9:05. It was locked. A sign on the door listed the first class at 10:00. I sat in the parking lot for 45 minutes before a coach arrived to open the place up. I ran in, found the backpack, and dashed back out. I dropped it off at school at 10:30.
I had about two hours before I had to go back to the school to pick her up. I went to the nearest Starbucks and put in as much work as I could, and spent the rest of the afternoon driving her to the dentist and then Hebrew school.
"Dancing" isn't on tonight, so I don't have carpool duty. I think I'm going to take another drive.
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