You can feel the anticipation in the air... Christmas is almost here. Something about the holidays adds a spring to our step and a song in our hearts. Unfortunately it also adds stress to our lives. We run about rushing every where trying to pick that perfect gift, run back to the grocery store because we forgot the slivered almonds, and don't forget to pick up the laundry and pay the bills too! What Americans have done to a once spiritual holiday is down right shameful.
Now I can say this with conviction because I am one of the worst offenders. The day before the break our school district scheduled a professional development day for teachers... please don't call this "inservices" it makes it sound much worse than they really are! Staff development has been the passion of my career. My former mentors were staffer developers, and if I have a bragging "rite" it is that I have been trained by the best. Well... this was not apparent Friday morning when I was found munching on breakfast instead of getting the program started, With much help, we had arranged a meaningful day of technology for our teachers. With such capable trainers, it was easy for me to get lost in anticipation of my long journey home to Texas/Arkansas for the holidays.
The morning session went well, despite me. I excused myself early and hit the road for a trip that would take me three days... first stop, Tucson, second Odessa, third home! By the time I reached Odessa my brain was now on its own holiday. Perhaps the reason was a fact that I had spent most of the previous night trying to convince the loves of my life, two little mop dogs (aka Shih Tzu) named Puddin and Punkin that every thump in the hotel wasn't the Boogie Bear that required a ferocious bark! (After that eight hour drive didn't want hotel management to ask us to sleep in the car!)
I arrived at Odessa ahead of schedule and realized that I had forgotten my coat... I just had too much to do before I left! It was now 30 degrees in West Texas, and despite the fact I was coatless the pups needed out for a walk. I don't know if it was fatigue, the tangled leaches, the hotel door that jammed, or simply the stress of the season, but for some reason I pulled the luggage out of the car and left it there!
I went into the room to get the pups settled without noticing I was missing bags. It was so cold, so I decided to drive to the hotel desk for delivery service information and ice so I jumped into my new Hybrid and put it in reverse. Suddenly I heard a thump! Then a bump! Then the car would not move!!!! The handsome young man unloading his truck was now staring at me. I had backed over one of the bags and by the time I got out of the car, face cleanser and shampoo was forming a river down the parking lot. Why is there ALWAYS someone there to watch you make a total fool of yourself??
At first I got angry, where in West Texas would I find my over-priced, but worth it, make up remover? Then I started laughing as I crawled under the car in freezing weather to retrieve my fuzzy pink slippers and what was left of my cosmetics!! I am sure by this time the young Texan was connecting the incident to stereotypes of blondes with California plates. What in the world was I thinking?? Or why wasn't I thinking?? I HAD JUST RUN OVER MY OWN LUGGAGE!!!
I am writing about all this nonsense because I had to ask myself this question... how did I get to this point? Although you may not make a pancake out of your antacid like I did, I would venture to say that I am not the only one doing stupid things this holiday season. So... what are we teaching our children about the holidays? Will they grow up dreading them, rushing and fussing so much that they can't enjoy them? Maybe we all need to take a breath and remember the real meaning of the season... then we can use this "vacation" time as a teachable moment for those who are watching us and will model for the next generation what we teach them.
