The Swerving Car

Whenever I have the kids in the car, 70% of my drive is spent with my eyes not on the road. I am usually fiddling with the radio to get the right song on that will please both kids, or picking up a water cup or food item or toy that has dropped, or scolding a child etc. Many times as I am attempting to be Gumby, stretching my arm to the opposite side of the back seat to pick up a lost item that a child is screaming over, I find myself veering into the adjacent lane and having to quickly adjust the steering wheel to avoid an accident in the knick of time. I am a disaster waiting to happen. I always fear that those cars around me will think that I am driving under the influence and will call the Cops on me.

But, today, I was encouraged about my poor driving habits. I noticed an SUV swerving on the freeway this morning on my way to work. As I studied what was going on the inside of the car, I noticed a father looking into the backseat and talking sternly to his child, then he did the famous Gumby reach into the opposite side of the back seat and handed the retreived item to the child all while utterly failing to keep his car in his lane. As soon as he was able to face forward again, he looked in all his mirrors as if to see what the the reactions of all the drivers around him would be and to check if anyone was calling the police on him.

I wanted to pull up next to him and give him a high five and say, "Hey, I know you're not drunk! You've just got kids!"