Dear Drunken Driver

Dear Drunken Driver...

You may not know this, but you almost smashed your large truck into 3 small children last Monday. How do I know this? I was the driver in front of you on the HRBT bridge, heading to Hampton from Norfolk to go get donuts, and I had my 3 small children in the back seat of my midsize car. You were swerving all over the interstate as we were heading into the tunnel, and it concerned me enough that I called 911 to report erratic driving. You were straddling the divider line, and overcorrecting to the right, and I was worried that you might throw your burgundy Ford SportTrac into the ocean. I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT *YOU*. Think about that for a minute. I was calling to get you off the road, because I thought you might hurt yourself. I didn't even consider that you might floor it coming into the tunnel, then realize too late that traffic was slowing down, coming inches from my bumper as I was heading into the tunnel. Once you figured out that traffic was going slower than you, you slammed on your brakes, thank goodness, but it was almost too late. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that once the guy behind you slammed into you, buckling the front end of his car, he didn't appreciate it when you floored it again, running from the scene. You floored and slammed your brakes 3-4 times, and every time you got near me, I'm sure the 911 operator was appreciative as I cried into the phone about my babies in the backseat, but at least I was able to get a partial plate number (VA last 4 digits 9330).

Drunken Driver, ask yourself this: how would you have felt if I hadn't been able to goose it just as you roared up on me? How would you have felt if you had crumpled my backseat, and my 3 children with it? I'll tell you how I would have felt. I would have died inside if I lost these three. I would have crumpled, and cried, and wondered why, why, why did it have to be us? Can you imagine if that would have been your wife and children in front of you?
Here's what I want from you. I want you to get help. Stop drinking and driving. Get help for your obvious drinking problem, and Stop putting people in danger. Stop thinking only of yourself. Oh, and it'd be really cool if you went and talked to the State Police, since they were antsy to talk to you, though I doubt you'll actually do something like that, that requires courage to face the consequences of your actions, something I always emphasize to my children how important it is to do. Running from the scene of a crime shows me your courage is lacking, Drunken Driver.

The ball is in your court, Drunken Driver. You can choose to keep putting other people in danger with your stupidity, or you can make a change. It's up to you and no one else.

Things I did instead of Facebook

A few weeks ago, the whole family was SICK. I'm talking trashcans at the feet, "Not again, oh, god, no! I don't want to!" kids hurling, sad baby crying the whole time because all he wanted was to nurse, yet every time he did, it came right back up. S.I.C.K.

Of course, I'm on Facebook quite a bit, anyway. Bored housewife syndrome. Nursing? (Facebook) Take a break from housework? (Facebook) Kids won't interact with me, and are actually enjoying one anothers company? (Facebook) In the summer, with the weather being nice, the Facebooking slows down, because we aren't home as much, but as a one car family, our winter is spent inside during the week.

 So during the sick week, I was on Facebook quite a bit more though, documenting the horrors of norovirus, and checking in to see what allllll my friends were doing. I mean, what else is there to do when you're laying on the couch under a baby who won't stop spewing? After the 30th check into Facebook the last day everyone was sick, I was SICK of Facebook. SO BORING. Everyone spewing the same rhetorical, copy, paste, share share share, vaguebook, whinebook, blah blah blah. There were maybe two things that actually caught my eye, but for the most part, it was all the same blather. Of course, quirkymomma shared a ton of craft stuff that I would love to do, but don't have the supplies to do, and don't have the room to put the supplies after we are done (tiny apartment living, y'all).

But still, my extreme Facebook habit continued past the sick week. Why? WHAT IS SO INTERESTING ON THERE??? So I made a decision to limit my Facebook, which I did, a little, Mostly instead of Facebook, I read on my kindle app. But with the app on my phone, I still was drawn to open it, again and again.

Thursday, I deleted Facebook off my phone.

Sadly, my habit of opening it up every time I sit down, whether to take a break, or to nurse, has led me to completely ignore anyone who talks to me, or tries to get my attention, and it couldn't have been clearer two nights ago, when the baby Bear was trying to play with me, and Mr. Daddy had to TELL ME he was trying to get my attention and play, while I was too engrossed in someone else's life.

So, without further ado, here is a list of all the things I accomplished without Facebook in the past two weeks, but mostly in the past three days:

I wrote this blog post. I haven't written in so long, I don't remember what the last post was about (Was it about writing more often?)

I dumped ALL toys on the floor, and sorted them. They did not get organized (yet), but that will happen soon.

I exercised. First thing in the morning all week, I started legitimately working out.

I cleaned the kitchen. It was becoming a hoarders nightmare, with stacks of random paperwork, beer boxes clustered in the corner, and dishes piled high. In fact, I even scrubbed the baseboards.

CLEAN SHEET DAY!!! I consciously stripped our beds without someone peeing on them in order to make it happen, cleaned them, and slept on clean sheets last night.

I took the kids to the beach, without checking in and posting pictures while they played.

I read several books. In two weeks, instead of Facebook, I made myself open Kindle or a paper book instead. I was able to read 3 books, and I'm halfway through two more.

I watched 3 movies with my kids. And actually paid attention to the whole movie, all the way through, without looking at my phone halfway through.

I biked with the kids down to the OV Fishing Pier, and introduced them to calamari.

Most importantly, I PAID ATTENTION to all the things my kids were trying to say and show me.



This is going to be a permanent thing. I won't be putting Facebook back on my phone. It doesn't add to our quality of life. In fact, it most certainly detracts from our life experiences. I won't be deleting my account, but I will definitely be limiting the time I spend scrolling down the feed, and I sure won't do it absentmindedly while sitting with my kids. They're pretty important. Facebook is not