March 2009 Archives
Yesterday's accident on the 210 certainly made our Friday challenging. Lots of parents were late to work (even those who left the house at 6:15 a.m.!) and my usual 15-minute drive from Arcadia to Duarte took 45 minutes. After school, our trek took over an hour.
Parents from Firstborn Son's school encountered long commutes from Alhambra to Pasadena.
It was interesting to see how everyone reacts to traffic snarls. I had to stay cool and entertain the kiddos. (We had a blast trying to see who would win a race, us in our car or a little ol' lady walking the trail along Royal Oaks Drive in Duarte. Grandma won.)
Other drivers couldn't stand waiting in line and made U-turns to whatever alternate route they could think of. Others (even moms in minivans, shame on you!) forgot all about courtesy and cut off other drivers or made illegal turns and stops. Most San Gabriel Valley drivers, thank goodness, remembered their driving manners: waiting their turn, not blocking intersections, and saying thank you when we let them in our lane.
Yesterday was a challenge and a major complication, for sure. But we got to go home and enjoy the beginning of our weekend. I think about the two people who left home before dawn on Friday and don't get to do that.
I'll take traffic snarls anyday.
Parents from Firstborn Son's school encountered long commutes from Alhambra to Pasadena.
It was interesting to see how everyone reacts to traffic snarls. I had to stay cool and entertain the kiddos. (We had a blast trying to see who would win a race, us in our car or a little ol' lady walking the trail along Royal Oaks Drive in Duarte. Grandma won.)
Other drivers couldn't stand waiting in line and made U-turns to whatever alternate route they could think of. Others (even moms in minivans, shame on you!) forgot all about courtesy and cut off other drivers or made illegal turns and stops. Most San Gabriel Valley drivers, thank goodness, remembered their driving manners: waiting their turn, not blocking intersections, and saying thank you when we let them in our lane.
Yesterday was a challenge and a major complication, for sure. But we got to go home and enjoy the beginning of our weekend. I think about the two people who left home before dawn on Friday and don't get to do that.
I'll take traffic snarls anyday.
On the days
I feed my boys Costco pizza, or treat them to a cookie without a second
thought, I think of parents like Nelo and Rose, cousins from New
Jersey . I bow before them, not only because they are
raising their two sons with so much love, and humor, but also because both boys
are thriving despite having multiple allergies.
Experts say they can't explain why the number of children with food allergies has increased 18 percent in the past decade. About 4 percent of children under 18 -- or 3 million children -- had food allergies in 2007, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 9,500 a year were hospitalized for food allergies from 2004 to 2006 -- more than three and a half times as many as in 1998 to 2000, according to the CDC study.
Continue reading An allergic life.
