Answer: One Hour and Twenty-five Minutes

Question: How long does it take to pick up 3 kids from school?

Well, I guess it depends on who you are, where you're from, and how big your town is. But in our town, it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to go to two schools.

Except that it's MY family we're talking about and so that makes everything different. First, Bart had decided to stay at the church and let Rand make dinner, so he asked me to bring him his medication. So I left a little early. Then I headed to the elementary school where Wilson had foolishly asked to stay after on the playground. We tried to worn him that he was asking to stay too long and it would be cold, but he insisted and sometimes kids just have to learn for themselves.

So I show up and he isn't there. Nowhere to be found. Sadie had intimated earlier that he would sneak off to a friends house, so after waiting five minutes, I decided that is probably where he was so I headed to the school to get Ricardo and Leon, who always manage to be at the wrong door. Even though I tell them the same thing every time.

So I went to the right door, and they weren't there. So I gave up and went to the wrong door. And they weren't there. I called home. Rand said that they had already called and that he thought they had told Salinda they would be at the locker room doors (the right doors). I told him OK. I drove to the right doors again. They weren't there.

By this time I figured Wilson was going to be getting scared if he had come to the school from his friends and found him not there. So I left the Junior High and headed back to the Elementary only to find him not there again. I sat and waited a bit and he finally came running out of the school building where apparently he had been sitting on a radiator "burning his butt" so he could warm up.

We headed back to the Junior High where we waited at the right doors. I sent WIlson in to look around. No sign. I called Rand. He had heard nothing. I told him to go ahead and serve supper to whoever was ready to eat. I drove around to the wrong doors. I sent Wilson in. Still nothing.

Finally Rand called. "Leon and Ricardo are at the park, that is where practice was?" And I was supposed to know that how???

SO we headed to the park. Except that the park is on this annoying street where, if you don't turn 2 blocks before the park you have to drive 16 miles to turn around. OK, so I exaggerate. Probably just a mile. But still. So i decide to take a back road, which turns out to be a dead end road leading to apartment buildings. I turned around and headed back to the endless road with no streets and went all the way back to the park.

By the time I got there my Guatemalan and my Texan were freezing -- no foresight to wear sweats, just shorts and t-shirts. And I asked, "So how was I supposed to know you were here." Leon said, "Well, I figured you would know that if we weren't at the school we'd be here." And Ricardo only muttered, in his guttural quiet tone, "I said to Salinda that." And I thought, "well, honey if you "said to Salinda that" with that kind of grammar in that muted stoic tone, she might not have understood."

Fortunately these are my easy going kids and they were not mad and fortunately I have had a pretty decent day and so I found the whole thing more comical than annoying.

I just find it amazing that a simple task, picking up 3 kids at two schools, can take one hour and twenty-five minutes of my day.

Bart blogged again today about normal days.