Apr
07
2010Humility is not a vocabulary word that is filed into my heart.
Nope, I’m not sure my heart knows the meaning of humility.
Just for example let me tell you about the saga of the stroller. I’m not exaggerating: it is truly a saga.
Episode One:
In this episode, we moved the girls up to convertible seats rendering the Double Snap and Go almost useless. Seriously, the girls were 27 inches at their 6 month appointment and I did not believe they’d stay under the 29″ limit on the SnugRides until the next time they’re measured. I did lug the Snug Rides and the DSaG to do a little shopping last Friday, but it was a pain. I had been using the wonderful double Baby Jogger that a kind stranger gave us, but it was a bear. A bear to take apart to fit in my car. A bear to lift into the trunk and squiggle it in just right. A bear to put together again while two babies complained about being in their carseats in a hot car. Basically the Baby Jogger is great for jogging… but totally unqualified to be your main twin stroller when you still drive a Corolla.
So I decided I would sell the stroller. And I sold it in three weeks to a friend who truly is a jogger and wants to space her kiddos relatively close. Wahoo!
Episode Two:
I pick out the stroller that I want. A jogger that folds, has a locking swivel front wheel, and reviews say it will fit in my trunk easily. I beg Derek to drive us to BabyDepot to try it out. I fall in love. I can collapse it with one hand. I definitely looks as if it will fit in our trunk. The girls look comfy and the seats recline so they can nap. It steers pretty well even though the tires on the store model are completely flat. I’m excited to get it.
I wait until my $50 free SwagBucks earned Amazon gift cards are received on April 1st. I upload the gift card codes into my Amazon account and call Derek, who has our only credit card with him at work, to tell him that he can order the stroller now. Four hours later when Derek returns home with the stroller unordered, he gets a severe tongue lashing: I can’t leave the house without a stroller. I’m stuck here with your kiddos doing nothing until that thing comes in. The least you could have done is order me a stroller! I deserve that!
Episode Three:
After waiting not so patiently, the stroller arrives yesterday. It’s waiting for me when I return from Breastfeeding support group after having lugged the girls upstairs at the hospital: one in a Moby Wrap and the other on my hip. There was never a more welcome sight. It’s beautiful: brown, aqua, and orange. It’s compact and it’s mine. To top it all off, between proceeds from the first stroller, SwagBucks earned Amazon cards, free shipping, and a sale, we spent about $45 dollars on the $220+ retail price. My money saving tactics worked. I earned this sweet stroller.
I open the box and rush to assemble the stroller. I’m more than slightly miffed that the tires are sent under-inflated. So I patiently wait for Derek to come home so that the tires can get filled and we can take her out for a little spin.
Episode Four:
The tires are in place, Ms. Stroller looks all spiffy, and the girls look comfy. But… it won’t fold. Seriously, the folding mechanism is not-functioning in my particular model. I press hard on the folding buttons and push down so hard on the bottom bar that my foot bruises. Nothing. Derek and I take apart the folding button area. Nothing appears wrong. We fume at each other while taking it apart. Mainly because I though he should do it my way.
My foot and his feelings are both now bruised and we go downstairs to email the company. All the while I’m muttering about how I now have this stroller that I can’t take anywhere to get repaired because unfolded it won’t fit in either of our cars. And how I just know customer service is going to treat me like a dumb idiot for not being able to fold my stroller. And how I can return it in it’s original box like their return policy states because it only fits in the box folded and … oh wait…my stroller doesn’t fold!
I lie in bed all night and dream of wrestling my perfect stroller closed. I’m frustrated when I wake at 4:19 to the sounds of hungry daughters from a dream where I had not yet folded the stroller closed. Shouldn’t just this once I have been entitled to a night of uninterrupted sleep?
DESERVED.
EARNED.
MY WAY.
ENTITLED.
Did I mention I have a problem with humility? After all, I only have a right to one thing:
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13
