What's the rush?

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~ Lao Tzu

To which I reply: "Oh yeah? Well, Nature never has to get three kids to a 9 a.m. dental appointment!"

We hurried this morning. We rushed about. In a panicky voice I yelled things like, "Quick! Eat this! NOW!" and "Just put two shoes on, I don't care if they match!" Everything always seems to take a lot longer when we have a set appointment at a specific time, but (unlike nature) that is just how dentist's offices tend to operate. Anyway, we were already running late when the dreaded Seat Belt Malfunction rose its ugly head.

We have this seat belt in the back seat that sometimes gets very shy. It will come out just a teeny tiny bit, maybe just enough to strap in a praying mantis, if he skipped breakfast that day. But definitely not enough to strap in a 7-year-old in a booster seat. So it comes out just a bit, then it locks up. Then I let it retract, and I try again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Until steam starts coming out of my ears, and I walk away. Then I come back and try again. And it still won't work.

Luckily we do have seats in the very back of the SUV. But before I could use them, I had to move my husband's work stuff out of the way, and unhook the seat and then lock it into place. Then we had to move the booster seat back there, my son had to crawl over the seat and we got him all buckled up.

Needless to say, we were a bit late to the dentist. But they were kind enough to squeeze us in anyway.

And everything was accomplished.