Clowns

On Tuesday I decided to take the girls to the library to see a clown show. This was pretty brave on the whole because Maggie has had "the runs" (which, when you are a mom, means they go-and you run to change them, and then you run to get the resolve for the carpet, then you run to fill the bathtub, then you run to start the laundry...) but we really needed to get out of the house, so I bathed and dressed them, got ready and headed out the door. The night before Jon and I had scouted the library out so I would know exactly where it was, so I was actually ten minutes ear
ly. Wow. I should have been there an hour early. I kid you not, there were at least sixty cars in the parking lot with moms of every color, shape and size, dragging kids of every color, shape and size at a dead run toward the door. Panic hit. You know the kind of panic that hits you in Target when there is only 4 candles left on clearance in a scent you love? I, I mean "some" women look furtively left and then right before grabbing them and throwing them into their cart, then racing for the checkout while glancing behind them to make sure no one is following to try and snag them, and only when seated in the car with the doors locked can breathe? That kind of panic. I yelled LET'S GO KIDS! WE GOTTA GET A SEAT!!!!! I grabbed one kid and then the other and actually passed several other moms on the way. I became a little sheepish when I got to the door and a little kid opened it for me and waited patiently to enter. I calmed a bit and actually took a side trip to the bathroom to put on the mascara that I was supposed to finish in the parking lot because we were EARLY. I clamly walked out of the bathroom and looked around until I found the massive pile of five hundred tiny squirming and writhing bodies in the corner of the room. I quietly thanked the lady who was passing out clown noses and made my way toward the throng. We actually got a pretty good seat...until the librarian said "would everyone that is next to the window, move back so the clowns can perform up front?" Then of course instead of having a front row, we were five back. But, that's okay, I silently thanked the Lord for giving me the tiny lesson in patience, when a panicked grandma, trying to get to the front, in her extreme haste, tripped over ten feet, three sippie cups and a bowl of animal crackers and went down headfirst narrowly missing squishing the child she was transporting in a classic football hold. The clowns were actually great, and apart from trying to keep Maggie from stealing those same animal crackers from the girl next to us, the rest of the outing went quite smoothly. Apart from me getting lost on the way back. I can hear the laughter of all my close friends.