By Rosie Preston
It was several years ago when my three grandchildren were under the age of five. Even though it’s been a while, I decided to publish this story again because I frequently find myself transporting my great-grandchildren and often finding laughter filling my car.
It’s amazing that in today’s world, I meet so many grandparents who have a huge part in their own grandchildren’s lives. Hopefully, this article may be understood and appreciated it if you’ve been in charge of grandchildren.
During this particular trip, I asked the children if they wanted to sing a song. When they told me the name of the song, I was impressed that they are learning about the Bible.
On this particular evening, we were singing as we peacefully rode to our destination.
The children began singing in unison, “B-I-L-E, pause, B-I-L-E,” then they added these words to the song, “Is the book for me! I stand on the world of God. That’s the book for me!”
Correcting them as I glanced in the rearview mirror, I said, ‘I believe it is B-I-B-L-E instead of B-I-pause-L-E. That’s how you spell Bible.”
My oldest grandson assured me, “Nana, my teacher says it that way!”
The second oldest and middle child agreed, “Teacher says!”
Since I recently left out some parts of a book during a bedtime story, these children watch me very closely.
Hoping to divert their attention, I suggested we learn a fun song.
Snapping my fingers and swaying back and forth, I began, “Who can make a rainbow? Sprinkle it with dwe? Cover it in chocolate and a sugar drop or two? The Candy Man can, ‘Cuz he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good! The Candy Man makes everything he bakes, satisfying and delicious!”
Satisfying and delicious! Talk about your childhood wishes! Whoa, whoa – “You can even eat the dishes!”
Laughter filled the car as the boys forgave my earlier folly and were bouncing to the rhythm as their baby sister was clapping and “la-la-la-ing’” as we continued our journey.
Suddenly, the boys shouted, “Nana, it’s the police!”
I pulled over and waited for the police car with the bright flashing lights to pass me. Instead, it pulled behind me.
“Has anyone escaped from your car seat?” I quickly asked out of the corner of my mouth. Surely, I wasn’t speeding. Had my tag expired? Were my brake lights working? I went down the list of what could be wrong.
The officer walked slowly to my window and asked for my driver’s license, which incidentally was located in my checkbook.
I explained to the officer that the reason the driver’s license was sticky was that chewing gum had melted in my purse and I must have dropped it without knowing it until today. Doesn’t that sound like something you would hear in a crime story?
The officer asked me if I had a baby wipe to clean my license so he could read it. I quickly retrieved one from the baby’s diaper bag and made firm movements to remove the stickiness.
After examining my license, the officer said, “Ma’am, the children in the back seat can’t be seen by other drivers. We received a report that you were driving suspiciously and exhibiting rather erratic behavior. I’ve had you under surveillance for a couple of miles.”
“Officer, I didn’t think about the way it must look to others. We sing a lot while I’m driving them from daycare to home. It is a sure way to make the trip a little more pleasant.”
Our dilemma was quickly solved when the policeman could see that I was sober. The boys sang a verse of our song for “Mr. Policeman” after asking him several questions, including, “Are you taking us to jail?” “Is that a real gun?” “Can we play with your car lights?” and “What is your name?”
Even though I was terribly embarrassed, I couldn’t help but smile along with the policeman when he said, “It is a nice change to pull someone over for being ‘high’ on something as natural as a song!”
The children were in awe as we drove away. I was very thankful there is not a fine for Driving Under the Influence of Grandchildren!
I invite you to take the Arrive Alive pledge:
“I ________, make a commitment to obey traffic laws, realizing that approximately 50,000 deaths are caused by vehicular cra-shes each year. Speeding, texting, eating, applying make-up, driving too closely to the vehicle in front of you and running yellow and red lights not only are causing deaths but disabling people for the rest of their lives, causing people to miss months of work and causing years of pain and grief for a mistake that could only take one second. Most importantly: do not proceed when your red light turns green; wait until all vehicles have stopped.
After signing this pledge, please start to count the drivers who continue to believe they can get to their destination faster by running traffic lights. I have counted at least three or more occurrences like this a day. This could save your life, your family’s life and innocent people’s lives.
Keep Smiling, Rosie
Please visit my blog at www.life101rosie.com and e-mail me at rosie.preston@yahoo.com.