Insanity. Don't Knock It Until You've Waited For A Red

I was Insane this morning. I proudly own my Insanity. It worked in my favor today, which isn’t always the case.

At 0520, I was sitting in the only car in the parking lot of Little Squirt’s school. It was quite dark and silent. I believe I was the only one in the entire neighborhood actually outside. I was there to wait for the distribution of the school year parking passes, and I wanted a coveted Red one.

I have had 4 nightmares in the past 2 weeks about this very morning. Nightmares in which I didn’t hear my alarm clock on this momentous morning, slept in and couldn’t get a parking pass. After each nightmare, I’d wake up in a tachycardic sweat. Let me explain: A parking pass at my son's school is like a ticket to a rock concert in the world of the schoolyard. People fight for these parking passes. They get up at the ungodly hour of 0500 to have a chance to obtain these parking passes. They sit in a car in a dark parking lot hours before the parking passes are distributed, to be one of the first in line. It's a necessary annual ritual of the bizarre. It’s every mom for herself.

We live a bit too far for Little Squirt to walk to school, yet too close for him to need the bus. So I drive him every day. The school has an organized "pick up" system that is envied throughout the district. There are three dismissal times and assigned parking spaces along the drive way. The Red parking pass enables me to park in my assigned space, enables LS to be dismissed at the first bell, and then we can zoom home without any hassle. No long car lines, no jockeying for position in inclement weather, no trying to spot my child in a sea of children from a street corner. But once the parking spaces are filled, there no more parking passes. (Shudder.)

This morning I sat safely in my car until 0525, when another car pulled into the lot. The other mom and I walked to the front door of the school, formed the beginning of a line, and sat down on a blanket for a long wait. Two more parents showed up a few minutes later, one a sweet friend who brought me a Starbucks coffee and blueberry muffin. We chatted. A few more parents trickled in.

By 0700, a long line looped around the corner. By 0715, the principal opened the door and welcomed us in. I was first. I asked for a #7 Red pass. First Bell, First Parking Space by the door where LS is dismissed. I got my #7 Red pass. Score One for the Insane Mother!

In summary, I waited for two hours by the door of my son’s school this morning. Crazy sauce? Absolutely! But you already knew that. And I got the freakin’ #7 Red pass. Sometimes Insanity works.