I don’t know how I missed it, but I did. I backed straight into the side of a big, dark, delivery van. Thankfully no one was in it, and after I jumped out to survey the damage, I breathed a big sigh of relief to find nothing more than a few smudges of paint on the van’s side. That is, till the driver of the van (who happened to be very kind and gracious through the whole ordeal) expressed regret over my own car’s fate. I hadn’t even been thinking about my own side of things! I turned and felt a knot in my stomach as I looked at the classic corner-of-the-fender dent. Thankfully, though, no one was hurt, and I drove my girls home very carefully.
Apparently, however, this impression on our car also made an impression on my 3-year-old daughter. A few weeks later (notice I said WEEKS), I received a glowing commendation from the backseat when I successfully backed out of a parking spot. In all earnestness, she exclaimed, “Thank you for not bumping into anything, Mommy!”
(“Um, thank you…?”)
Ambling through Motherhood 
You never know how much impact your day to day living could have on a single individual, did you? I love the “Jimmini Cricket Syndrome.” “Mommy, remember when you caught the oven mitt on fire?” “Mommy, are you going to drop all the eggs in the driveway again?” This is why God allowed mommy’s to lose their memory when they have kids–because those little darlings will remember everything you ever do or say, unless, of course, you say crazy things, like, “Please go to the potty before we leave,” or “go and put your books away.” 😉