Do you stand up?

We had an interesting day to say the least. This morning, Owen had his Christmas party at school. I went with him, and I really don't think that he was feeling very well because he clung to me the entire time, and didn't want to participate in very many of the activities. Normally, if I am there he's happy to play games and participate.

We finally make it through the Christmas party and I'm already flustered with the way that he had behaved. We get out to the Jeep and it won't start. Several different people offered to help and we tried to jump it, but to no avail. We were stuck.

I called for roadside assistance and we were told that a wrecker would be there within 45 minutes. 45 minutes came and went... No wrecker. He finally showed up after about 1 hour and 15 minutes. In the meantime, Owen scratched Eli's face badly enough to make him bleed. Nice.

The tow truck guy, Nick, was a pretty burly fellow. He was nice though, and apologized for being late, and he helped me get the kids loaded into the wrecker. Where I was parked, it was difficult for him to get his truck into the right position. He worked forever and finally he jimmies this huge flatbed truck into position in front of my jeep with inches between the front of his truck and the school building. Just then, as he's getting ready to load up the jeep, someone from the school came out and told him that he was going to have to move his truck because they were going to have a fire drill in a couple of minutes. He was very polite, and told him that he'd figure out something else.

So then he goes around and gets behind the jeep, and with much effort, he finally gets the thing winched onto the truck. He comes back and gets in the truck and we take off towards the repair shop. As we're pulling out out of the school parking lot, Owen says, (in a loud voice) "What's that lady doing?" (About the two truck guy) My face turns beet red.
"He's a man, Owen" I replied.
"No he's not mommy, he has long hair on his face. It's a lady!"
Face beet redder
"No Owen! He is a man!" I insist.
"Does he stand up to go potty?" Owen asks.
"I would assume so." I reply, *DYING* of humiliation!

A little time goes by, and Owen decides to point out the cleanliness level of the inside of the tow truck. "This truck is REALLY dirty Mommy." he tells me.
"Well, it's like Daddy's truck. He uses this truck to do work, so it gets dirty." I tell him.
"You need to clean it." He tells the guy. "You should probably use a hose."

OMG. I was soo embarassed.

Fortunately, the guy was very good natured, and laughed at all of Owen's "thoughts" on the matter. He explained to me that he has a 5 year old boy of his own, so he was well aware of the things that children say. I was super thankful that he was so understanding!

We finally get to the dealership. It was possibly the longest 1.8 mile ride of my life! He drops the jeep off, and then offered to take us home so that we didn't have to be stuck there. I wasn't comfortable with that, so I told him that we'd just walk over to the Chik-fil-a nearby. He insisted on taking us there so that I didn't have to carry the car seats and all of our stuff over there. Eli had fallen asleep, so he carried Eli inside the restaurant for me, carseat and all.

Matthew had left work to come rescue me almost an hour before, so I figured that he'd be arriving any minute. I called to see where he was, and he informs me that he was called back to the job site because the Environmental Management people had showed up to do a surprise inspection and he had to be there. So there we were, stuck again! Matthew got there as soon as he could, and it wasn't a terribly long wait considering how far that he had to come. But it was really cute fitting all FOUR of us (including two car seats) into the Bernsmobile!

We made it home safely, and found out that we have to replace the starter on the jeep. We *should* have the jeep back tomorrow if all goes well with the repair!

If you think about it, say a little prayer for Nick, the tow-truck guy, today. His compassion and graciousness were VERY much appreciated in my moment of need.