Standing in line.....

I spent my Saturday morning standing in line.
I got to the venue very early....one hour early to be exact, for fear that my child might not get a spot. The moms had been discussing the session options for months. This is my first child, so I listened intently...hoping to learn what I needed to know to "get in" early.
Every mom who has a pre-kindergarten going to camp this summer wants the coveted first morning session so it doesn't conflict with camp.....so we all knew we had to get there really early. I got my coffee, my reading materials, and my comfy clothes on in preparation for my wait. I didn't even go out late the night before, so I could be assured I wouldn't oversleep!

When I arrived I saw many familiar faces. The first ten mom's in line were other Jewish moms that I knew from various activities. One might say that it was quite a "scene". We were all happy to socialize with one another for an hour without the tug of five year old kids on our pant legs. I barely read a page of my magazine, I was too busy enjoying the coffee hour.
The line seemed to be getting longer by the minute, and I got a little worried when I didn't see one of my girlfriends anywhere in line. "I sure hope she gets into the right session" I thought. She surely couldn't have forgotten, after all, she was the one who reminded me several times about it.
Of course, this was my first time doing this.....but I felt proud that I was able to get up early enough to secure my son a spot. The first two or three people in line beat me, but I was still in the top ten.
Five minutes before the hour they "opened the doors" and we all got a little anxious. The director came over to us and began passing out the forms. We all filled them out in advance, making certain we spelled the name of the sponsor correctly. We didn't want to get up to the registration table and be unprepared.

Right on the hour they began letting us in. One by one we made our way to the tables, good mothers, doing the right thing.
Seconds before I left I realized that I still didn't see my friend. She must be in the very back....from the door it seemed the line might go on for miles, so I called her.
She answered. Uh, oh.
She forgot.
I scrambled with the help of another a friend to sign her child up while I heard her self loathing on the other line....she couldn't believe that she forgot about THIS! I spotted her the money, wrote the check, and managed to sign her child up as I passed through the table.
As I exited the room I realized that that the line wasn't quite as long as I imagined. As a matter of fact, there were only ten people or so behind me...and a couple of people were arriving right at the designated sign up time.
I noticed that most of the sign up forms were still there, and that many people weren't even there yet.
I felt a pang of embarrassment as I walked towards my car. I was embarrassed that I bought into all the hype, that I arrived so early thinking that this would be such an ordeal.

As I drove towards home I reflected amusingly on just how much my life has changed.
When I was younger there were very few things that I would label as "worthy" for waking up early on a Saturday.
There were very few things I would stand in line for with any strong determination.

They were:

Admittance to a very hot new club.
Tickets to a super hot Broadway show or a rock concert.
A line for a bathroom at a club on Friday or Saturday night after I had too many cocktails.

But today I am a mom. I am forever changed.
Today I didn't stand in line for anything that was dangerous, exciting, sexy or loud.

Today I waited in line for one hour and ten minutes so that my five year old to go to Safety Town the week before summer camp.
He will learn all the "how-tos" about going to school safely. He will learn to ride a bus, cross the street, and "say no" to drugs.

As I pulled into my driveway my embarrassment gave way to pride.
Suddenly, I couldn't think of one better reason in life to get up early.

My kids make every sacrifice worth it.