We have hit the 1 month milestone since the beginning of school! It's hard to believe its already been a month some days, and other days its hard to believe we're only 1 month into this journey; it feels like so.....much.....longer.
The active lives of 2 middle schoolers with the addition of a preschooler and a 3 year old has been busy to say the least. We have been blessed beyond measure with the expansion of our family for this season. Busy, and blessed. The girls have brought so much to our family and I am slowly seeing how much our family is bringing to these girls. Attachment is happening across the board in our 6 person family.
As this first month of school unfolded, I quickly found myself dreading the afternoon commute. One and a half hours in the van picking up all 4 children at 3 different locations. The I-81 overpass bridge is currently being reconstructed and downsized to one lane in either direction. Mama travels across that bridge a minimum of 4 times each afternoon.
As I am compiling all of my foster care paperwork in preparation for our home visit later this week, I (stupidly) decided to add up the miles traveled in my van (aka The Mama Mobile) since the first day of school; just for kicks. 1,851. Now of course that is a grand total including weekend and family travel. But seriously?! 1,851.
My curiosity was piqued, so I decided to look back over my calendar for the past month and look at where those miles had been traveled.
School
Daycare
Weekly Visits with bio parents
Counseling appts
Eye appts
Chiropractor appts
Dentist appts
Dance x 2 classes a week
DSS Training
Awanas
Hair appts
Youth Group
Orthodontist appts
Grocery store (even though I don't put that on the calendar)
Gas Station (you can't travel without refueling!)
......and one CBS class for Mama....
And get this........the 1,851 miles traveled do not include Baseball 3 times a week because those miles are all on Dad's truck. In addtion to his miles traveled dropping 2 kids off at school and 1 kid off at daycare every morning! CrAzY!
So when Mama feels like I live in my van, I almost do! A lot of great things happen in that van to and from so many places. Lots of laughter, jokes, heart talks, praise, dvds, bonding, and stories. And to keep it real: lots of fights, battles of the wills, short fuses, farts, "are we there yet's?", pee in the portable potty seat, opinions, and crankiness.
Are there days I wish I could hail my own taxi to take me far away from my van? YES. But deep down I know I'm where I'm supposed to be in this season, and that Jesus is riding in the van with Mama and all her peeps.
