Rain Rain Go Away...

at least until I can get my kids to school! Then rain all you like.

We faced a dim prospect this morning. It was pouring rain. Pouring. It was also time to leave for preschool. And to make matters worse, our driveway and sidewalks were removed Saturday and the van was parked on the street to the side of our house. Yes, things were not looking good. I huddled the kids together to go over our plan. I had to get organized in order to maintain the highest level of dryness possible while transporting three children to our van in the middle of a typhoon. Then, I realized that no plan was really up to the challenge. I donned Cody's rain jacket and dashed to the van by myself first, carrying the backpacks and my diaper bag. I threw them quickly into the front and grabbed our umbrella, which was inconveniently located in the van instead of the house. Doh! I ran back. Even though I had traveled across the grassy front yard (rather than the mud-wrestling arena formerly known as our driveway) my feet were soaked and muddy. New plan. I took the kids' shoes and socks off and tossed them into a plastic bag along with a towel. Then, the three of us walked under the umbrella to the van as I prayed that no one would have an emotional meltdown about their feet getting wet. The biggest obstacle was the fast moving river running along the curb and under the van. It was alarmingly close to door level. The children had to step over it into the van. I was thinking that life jackets would have been appropriate and urging them to crawl on in as fast as possible. After they were safely inside, I ran back to the house yet again to get Lucas. Lugging a car seat and a bag full of shoes while carefully keeping a heavy umbrella overhead is not an easy task. Lucas contributed to the hysteria by screaming at the top of his lungs. After securing him in his seat, I crossed the final barrier. Yes, I stepped into and across the current of water rushing along the curb and was immediately soaked up to my knees. I climbed into my seat exhausted and drenched. The water weight was pulling my knit pants heavily toward the floor and I had to dry off the keys before inserting them into the ignition. But we had done it. Everyone was loaded and ready to go! The drive itself was slow and tense as water was often thrown across the windshield blocking my view. We arrived at preschool and unloaded with much less incident. I handed the bag of shoes and socks to the teacher's assistant who came up to our van and then watched as my two sweet bare-footed children walked inside under her umbrella. Mission accomplished. Just another day in the life of super-mom.