Racketless

So I thought it would be a good idea to let Kyle and Reed ride their bikes to tennis lessons

(about 4 miles away).

The bike riding part was fine, but about half-way there Kyle screamed out, "Mommy! We forgot the tennis rackets!"

Oops, my basket was loaded down with sun visors, water, sunglasses...but no tennis rackets.

It took about 30 minutes to get there, so if I'd ridden home to get the rackets, the class would have been almost over by the time I got back.

I decided to ask the teachers (2 teenagers no older than 17) if they could borrow rackets using my "it's been one of those mornings, and I'm so frazzled, I don't know how I can possibly make it 5-more minutes" routine.

The guy teenager was not receptive to the woes of a mom with twin 4 year-olds who had just ridden their bikes 4 miles, and was actually trying to send me home with, "Well, there's just no way they can have tennis lessons without a racket, there's nothing we can do with them, and we just don't have any extra rackets."

Now, as a former teacher/drill team director/cheer coach/pep squad sponsor/cub scout leader, I have spent my adult life trying to "make the best of it" for kids who forgot whatever it was that they should have brought. 

You shouldn't punish the kid for their parents' mistakes. 

Was it my kids' fault they forgot their tennis rackets?

Of course not, they're 4!

It was my fault.  Don't punish my kids for something I forgot.

With all this in the back of my mind, I quickly changed my attitude and said,

"Um, this is a tennis club, and you're going to stand there and tell me there's not one extra racket in this whole place?!"

And with an eye-roll and exasperated sigh, off he went to see if the front office might have one.

I so wanted to tell that boy, "Dude, you think that eye-roll is going to make me feel bad?  You are eye-rolling at someone who has been genetically blessed with an eye-flutter to beat all eye-flutters (Except my cousin, Lu's, flutter). 

An eye-flutter that I have perfected into a flutter-roll combination that makes yours look like you're blinking at me." 

Of course I kept this to myself, but gave a secret sigh of satisfaction to see him walk out of the office with 2 tennis rackets.

And you can be sure, Kyle and Reed will always have their rackets from now on!