I made some interesting observations while having coffee at Tim Horton’s the other day. Now I know some of you are going to comment that it seems I spend a lot of time doing nothing. But if you profess to be a writer, you have to spend a lot of time “searching for inspiration”. To the untrained eye, this is often misconstrued as “doing nothing.”
I was searching for inspiration for a Mother’s Day column. Not that any of us should have trouble coming up with inspiring things to say about our mothers, but it is often necessary to look at things from a different perspective.
I watched a young man whip his truck into a parking spot, park on an angle, walk up to the counter, order his coffee and doughnut, slap down a $20, stuff the change in his pocket and leave. No more than four minutes had elapsed.
A van pulled into his vacated spot. A young mother got out and went to one side door and ushered out a toddler and herded her to the other side of the van. She reached in and took her baby from the car seat, positioned her purse over her shoulder and, in one well-practiced motion, spun with the baby, slammed the door and took the little girl’s hand, and headed inside.
Once she got to the counter, she ordered a coffee and a box of Timbits. She plopped the baby on the counter, rummaged through her purse for her wallet, while calling the little girl back to her. She paid for her purchase, picked up the baby and her purse, corralled the little girl and convinced her to carry the Timbits and headed back out to the van.
Once she got there, she reversed the previous order. Holding the little girl between her knees so she wouldn’t scoot into traffic, she fastened the baby in the car seat, then took the little girl around the van and placed her into her spot. Mom got into the driver seat, took a long drink of coffee and drove away. Almost 10 minutes had passed.
I made two observations. One, I’m very glad I’m a man. Two, mothers are amazing people. Who would volunteer for this job? How much does it pay? What kind of training and benefits are available for the position?
As Mother’s Day approaches, we have to respect all those little things we took for granted. All the extras she did that we just took for granted. Even a car ride to the beach would mean Mom packing a picnic lunch, bringing blankets and towels and sunscreen and thinking well ahead of everyone else.
Dad’s only responsibility was to make sure that every 10 minutes he would say, “You kids sit down and be quiet or I’m turning this car around.” Dads are a lot like Prince Phillip. They hold a position of responsibility but really have very little power in the running of the household. Take the beehive for instance. Is there any doubt why the Queen Bee is in charge?
A four-year-old boy asked his Mom, “How old were you when I was born?” I was 25 years old,” she replied. “Wow,” he said, “That’s a lot of years we never got to spend time together.”
Whether your Mom is still with you or not, spend some time with her this weekend. At least that’s what McGregor says.
