On the road again- A daily driving day in the life post

Last March, driving became something I did only very sporadically. Throughout the first few months of the pandemic, I was needing to gas up my car only about once a month because I did not drive many places. There was no work, no school, no church, no activities to get to that required driving. I drove to the grocery store (less than two miles from our house), a couple of city parks where we walked on paths (both within five miles of our house), and every once in a while to nature parks that were further away but never more than about a forty minute drive from our house (the prettiest areas near(ish) us are (in my opinion) in Greene County which is about forty minutes away). 

With regard to driving, the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that, along with rising gas prices (😠), I have been needing to gas up my car once a week. Long gone are those once a month gas fill ups. Which, I am not complaining about (too much) because it means that we are able to go places- that schools are open and that activities are occurring.

The other day, I was in the car SO MUCH during the day and evening. I realized that looking back on it, I could recount the times pretty well because I had to constantly know what time it was to get to my next location. So here’s a day in the life (driving) post.

I worked this day (substitute teacher)

1. By 8:00 am I had been in my car for fifteen minutes. Which is not that long... except that the school I was working at is less than a mile from our house. I drove Alyssa to her bus stop, waited with her in the car until her bus came, and drove straight to my school from there. I waited to make a left hand turn for about 7 1/2 of those 15 minutes (sometimes there is a left turn arrow but for some reason on this day, the arrow was nary to display and only one car was able to turn left each green light iteration. So...., I sat and sat in my car waiting to turn left). 

2. As soon as my school day ended, I drove to the high school to pick up Alyssa and we drove home. Traffic was light because I picked her up late (I had to pick her up late due to when my school ended- she hates it when I pick her up late but the good news for me when I pick her up late is that traffic to the high school is light). From my school to the high school to home only entailed driving less than ten minutes which is was good because after being home less than five minutes, it was time for me to hit the road again.

3. Sometimes I help my neighbor out by picking up his kids from their school and this was one of those days. To get to that school (they don’t attend Springboro schools) on time, I had to leave my house within minutes of getting home. The school that I drove to is 15 miles from our house- round trip, with traffic moderately busy, I was in the car for close to an hour.

4. Once home, I was there was for almost 45 minutes before it was time to head out again- this time to take Alyssa back to the high school for track. Got her there and me back home-  only about twelve minutes round trip. I ate quickly and cobbled together a dinner for everyone besides me and put it in the crock pot to stay warm.  I had one last place to go- to the nearby town of Franklin to a library board meeting.

5. Though Springboro has a library, it’s part of the Franklin- Springboro Library system. The Franklin branch building is much larger than the Springboro library so since the pandemic began, we’ve been meeting each month at the Franklin branch, not the Springboro one.  It’s easier to be physically distanced at the Franklin library (interestingly, these meetings were the one thing that didn’t get canceled during the pandemic. Board members could meet via Zoom or in person at the Franklin Library. I always chose to go in person). Anyway, the drive to the Franklin Library took about twelve minutes. The meeting was quite short at just around an hour (many meetings during the pandemic lasted way more than an hour a we had to decided pandemic related policies vis a vis library operations) and I drove straight home and parked my car in the garage. We’d gone many places and I was ready for a break. I’d be sitting in the driver´s seat the next morning less than twelve hours after I placed my car in park...

A couple of notes:

1- when I say, “during the pandemic” that usually means during the lockdown period of the pandemic. We are still in a pandemic but almost every place has opened up here in Ohio so we are in a much different state than we were last March. 

2- not every day is this busy, driving and being gone from the house wise and for that I am grateful. I am grateful than we can go to the places that I/ we went to but my favorite place to be is home! That reminds me of the following:

When I quit my job to be a stay at home mom (when Jacob was two years old and Abby was a baby), I loved being at home, like literally at home. I had a stay at home mom friend who quipped that she was a stay home mom who was rarely at home. She put her kids in all sorts of mommy & me activities, they were part of several formal playgroups and she took her kids to all of the places. There is nothing wrong with that- it just wasn’t how this newly minted stay at home mom rolled. I loved being at home and in my home with the kids. 

Every stage of life is different- I am working now more than I have in a long time so I am not home as much as I used to be. Those two tiny kids whom I quit to stay home with all those years ago are in college and driving. The youngest will be driving this year. My days of chauffeuring are coming to a close after a long haul (pardon the pun). Even when I am done chauffeuring, I will still drive a decent bit. And that is ok. I love to be at home but I don’t mind going most places if I have to.

I am thankful for my car, my house, and the ability to go most places these days. May I never take one of them for granted!

Just one picture- my vanity license plate. No, it doesn’t mean 3 Runner Kids. If you’re reading this, it’s probably not a huge mental stretch to figure out what it means ;). Note that the 3 RNR KDS are not fans of my plates. I just can’t figure out why, lol.

!