The Ride from NH to NJ (August 15, 2013)

The ride down from NH to NJ was much better than the ride up from NJ to NH. On that leg of the trip, my mom was excited to try a new route (she gets bored easily and tries to inject as much chaos into her life – and the lives of those around her – as she can). As soon as I heard the words George Washington Bridge and NYC, I should have declined. The trip, which should have taken about 5-6 hours, ended up taking 8.5 hours. I was ready to either cry or jump out of the window (and yes, I was the one driving). The ride back down to NJ was much more scenic and relaxing. My sister had made key lime tarts (with a vegan one for me) and had given them to me for the trip. I distributed them about halfway through. The boys were thrilled because their main sugar rush is getting ice cream on Sundays. Malachi inhaled his and then said to me, “I love the filling – can I have some of yours?” I said no and gave a brief lecture on savoring things and not eating them too quickly. In the meantime, Joshua had asked for Malachi’s bowl and had given him part of his own pie filling. As I hear a surprised Malachi say, “Thank you so much Joshua!” I reflect on what just happened. I taught my child a lesson in stinginess and a lack of abundance (can I claim a ‘sugar management’ defense? No, actually, not really – the reality is that I didn’t want to share) while his brother taught him (and me) about generosity. Watching children, I’ve often thought that we are born perfectly evolved and then spend much of our life regressing (or maybe it’s just me?). Maybe that is the purpose of being around children – they teach adults to be better human beings.