I Relented
She was hoping, more like yearning and I relented. What can I say; I don’t have a heart of steel. Fortunately for her I still remember the excitement with which I anticipated and the disappointment I was left with, if a much anticipated wish was not realised.
It was a smooth drive… not bad at all, took all of six hours to and from. I refuse to count the half hour or so we wasted on our way to the venue by taking a wrong exit and driving a good 20 km or so before realising we are in alien territory. Upon which we stopped on a side road to figure out how to get back on track. I sat staring at the front till she read the map and figured out how to get out of the mess. I am roadmap illiterate. Then again, come to think of it, I thought I can’t drive for long hours on the freeway too.
Anyway we managed to get back on track and reached the venue without any further mishaps. I am happy I decided to indulge her and seeing another mother asleep in her four-wheel drive only reinforced that decision. Auditorium was packed to capacity (yes, I had a sticky beak when I went looking for some nourishment for me)
At one point, while comfortably reclined in the back seat and having a shuteye, I heard a thunderous pounding and thought the auditorium was crashing down… only to realise it’s the so called music.
There must have been around 200 cars parked in the area we parked and there were many more car parks, surrounding the complex, so it would be safe to say there must have been over 500 cars, not counting the parents who dropped their kids and drove off. As you can imagine, getting out of the complex afterwards was bumper to bumper and snail speed. But to appreciate and to the credit of the considerate drivers of that state, I managed to merge without any trouble. They are a courteous bunch compared to the lot here. As soon as you put the indicator they slow down and let you merge! And how many times did I change lanes to jump to the faster moving lane! Initially I thought it was because I pushed and forged, though retrospectively I know I needn’t have done that, I would’ve been let in regardless. I am afraid I can’t say the same about me. I only let one other car merge in front of me : ) that too because there was a significant gab between me and the car in front…. it would’ve been extremely uncivil to just glide along ignoring the car (first among a pile of cars behind it) waiting to merge from one of the car park exits. This is all hindsight, how was I to know they are that gracious? I will remember to be a more courteous driver next time around.
It was 3am when we got home and my fear of falling asleep at the wheel was kept at bay with a conscious effort to concentrate and by stopping for a coffee the moment my eyes got droopy.
Overall it was all good …..she is happy….I am glad I took her…. Besides, I enjoyed the drive; it proved to me I can do it! And I got a hug and a “thank you mum for driving me”. So now I am in the good books ‘for today’ : )
Hopefully now she won’t do crazy things when she reaches mid-life. That was one of the arguments she used to bargain with me to drive her. “Do you know why people go through mid-life crisis and do crazy things in their forties? That is because they didn’t have fun when young” : )
Okie doke
Whisperings 
Lucky daughter. 😉
I envy your ability to buy coffee at ungodly hours.
Jester,Though there are 24hr eateries open along the freeway they are spread out and to drive until you find one when you are trying to stay awake would have been suicidal at that hour, so I took my thermos full of coffee to drink as and when I needed. : )
oh so u gave in?!?! motherly love i suppose.. 🙂
btw it took ur kids to teach you to push the limits n prove to urself u can do it 😉
You should be proud that ur a great mum!!! 😀
You’re a hell of a great mum Mia!!!
Thanks Azrael and LD, but I never feel that way because what I do is never appreciated but cop it for things I don’t do. I am told by my friends that mother daughter relationships are hard, so I go by that. It was much better in the past…. I put it down to a phase of growing up.
She is basically a good daughter but only say negative things when I don’t do what she wants and not be appreciative when I do something. Lately though she tries her best to be appreciative because my son on the other hand appreciates even the littlest things I do for him and say ‘thank you mum for doing it”, and put big sister to shame.
The difference is, his sayings comes out sincere and hers sound forced. But I accept them because it is a start. : )
You know Mia,I can understand mums not being appreciated.. Coz sometimes it’s very hard to say a simple ‘thank you’… and sometimes all that a mum does it taken for granted…
In fact I’ve once written about my mum here ” http://divine3.blogspot.com/2007/08/food-for-thought-ive-little-table.html ”
What matters is that you know all what you’ve done… and one day they will look back, and you’ve no idea how much they’ll realise at that time..:-)
You’re a cool mum, albeit a dodgy driver.
P.S. – You went to an MCR concert and didn’t GO IN?! :O
LD,
Thank you my dear, you sure know how to say the right words : )
John,
heyyyyyy “dodgy driver”??????? 😛
“You went to an MCR concert and didn’t GO IN?!”
Sad isn’t it? 🙂
I remember you telling that you liked MCR so i was going to ask my daughter to film it but it was announced repeatedly over the PA no filming is allowed, but my daughter later said many people were filming secretly and she doesn’t know how they managed to take their cameras in.
Hindsight -wee bit of creativeness would’ve taken care of that : )
sigh. Saying like MCR is an understatement. Hopefully it will be financially viable to travel to an MCR contest before they die of old age. Thanks for at least thinking of the act of recording 😀
mother-daughter relationships are hard. at least mine and my mum’s is, and half of my friends said the same thing. though now it seems to be settling down a bit. we used to have cold wars that could’ve put russia and the US to shame. i guess it’s an age thing. and just because she don’t say it as often, doesn’t mean she doesn’t appreciate it. “Do you know why people go through mid-life crisis and do crazy things in their forties? That is because they didn’t have fun when young” must try that on my mum next time. tell your daughter thanks for me 😀