Today we had a play date at the Please Touch Museum in Philly with Caleb's bestest-estest friend Isaac and his mommy (and my friend) Jackie. Was Caleb EVER excited! I told him we would be leaving about when the little clock hand reached the 12 (for those who do not wish to think - that is noon). At 10am, he ran up to me and told me excitedly, "Mommy, the big hand is at the 12 - we can go to the museum now!!!! C'mon, let's go!" and I had to break it to him that the LITTLE hand had to reac the 12, not the big hand. He sighed and said, "OK. I'll be patient." Oh, my little boy!
Well, time did pass, we ate lunch and we left. I was so prepared with changes of clothes, fruit snacks, hand sanitizer (never forgetting the fateful Thanksgiving incident of the puking bug probably picked up from the PTM - yuck), trains (for the train table there - a favorite), directions from the PTM's home page, cell phone (often forgotten at home), camera (fully charged), books for the car ... I was SUPER MOM! So, I haven't actually driven to the PTM, but I've been passenger many a time, so I thought I had it nailed. I even debriefed Aaron before leaving, and knew to stay in the left lanes, as the exit from 676 to 76 was a left exit ... fool proof, right? Oh no ... hence the title "Adventure in Life".
The PTM's directions never mention a direction on 676 ... there was no "676E" or "676W" to 76. Nope. Just "take 676 to 76". Ahhhh, trusting fool that I was. Apparently, there are 2 directions you can take. And there is not much time to decide which way to go. I had no time to process and analyze whether going east or west would get me to my desired location before I had to choose, so I choose ... and of course, choose incorrectly. I made the mistake of muttering "Stupid signs", which got Caleb to asking "Why did you say stupid signs, mommy?" so I tried to nonchalantly explain that I had made a mistake and would have to turn around ... somewhere ... and it wasn't a big deal and it would be a little adventure! As I'm driving, I'm thinking, "This does not look right. I took the wrong way! ARGHHH! How do I turn around? I'm downtown Philly - there is no way to turn around! It's all one-ways and wierd round-a-bout paths to get to main roads ... ARGHHH ... oh no ... I'm on the Ben Franklin Bridge driving across the river into New Jersey! Sigh. There is definitely no u-turn now ..." And as I'm thinking all this, Caleb is saying, "Mommy, where are we? You made a mistake, mommy? How do we turn around? How do we turn around, mommy? Are we still going to the museum? Can we turn around and go to the museum? ... Let's just turn around and go to the museum."
So, we cross the Ben Franklin Bridge and enter Camden, NJ - not a place I'd like to drive around lost in - so I pull over and call Aaron (thank God for cell phones!). I say, "Hi honey. I have a question for you. Say ... someone happened to be in Camden instead of at the Please Touch Museum ... how would that someone happen to turn around, go back over the Ben Franklin Bridge and find her way to the museum?" He laughed, then empathized (like a very thoughtful husband), and then became my knight in shining armor (from afar) as he went online to google maps and directed me street by street back over the bridge (a rather round-a-bout but not impossible path) and to 676 (the correct direction). What a man!!!
And somewhere in there, while trying to escape NJ, Caleb pipes up, "It's OK mommy! If we drive over that bridge again, we won't have to call daddy because we'll know how to turn around!" And I immediately smiled (as I looked for 9th street to turn right on), because that is so true. If we make a mistake (I hope I am not the only one who makes these), we can make a choice to learn from it. And then we move on with life. And hopefully not make the mistake again! I know now that if I accidentally drive over the Ben Franklin Bridge and need to turn around, I can take the Water front exit, take a right on 9th street, take a left after the bridge-thingy (also follow the teeeeeny green signs pointing for the BFB) and then another left leading to the toll ways. I also learned that it is a $4 and 20 minute mistake (although I could whittle down the minutes next time). And I also learned that my kids learn how to deal with mistakes by watching me deal with my mistakes.
So, we DID make it, had a great time and made it back home without ANY wrong turns. YES.
~JG
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