A Barrel Full of Monkeys at Kaiser

I thought I'd share a little about my day yesterday after I've had a chance to reflect and laugh about it.

I had to go to the hospital to do the glucose test to test for gestational diabetes. This is no simple in and out-draw a little bit of blood-and you're gone test, but it's the one where they give you this orange soda-like beverage and make you drink it under the watchful eye of the lab tech to make sure you've guzzled every last sugary sip, wait one hour, and THEN come back and draw blood to see how the drink has affected you. So already this hospital visit had that going against it, not to mention it wasn't an actual appointment. I already feel like I live at Kaiser Baldwin Park part time, so one more visit really irked me. Anyway, I packed lots of Cheerios and fruit snacks and books for the boys in anticipation of the hour long hiatus and off we went.

I pulled into the parking garage that was quickly filling with cars and drove up to the 3rd floor and found a spot near the elevator (whew!). As I was getting the stroller out of the car I noticed a parking attendant walking my way. I had opened Jake's door to get him out and the attendant said to me, "Excuse me Ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to move your car over a little bit because we need to leave room for the other patients coming to the hospital." I just stared at her blankly hoping she was kidding. Before I proceed, let me explain something about the special parking garage at Kaiser: 90% of the parking spots are dedicated to compact cars, so it is usually difficult not to park in one, and this time was no exception. My tires on the left were just barely touching the white line on MY side of the spot! Another thing about the spots: they are the ones with 2 white lines between spots, not one. Observe below:

So not only was I not in the next parking spot over, I wasn't even in the middle part between the lines!

Back to the story...

This lady (who was only doing her job, I reminded myselft) asked me again to move, and before I got nasty with her (which is totally my first inclination), I remembered I had 4 very impressionable ears 18 inches from where I was standing. So with a bad attitude and grumbling in my heart, I shoved the stoller back into the car and moved over about 3 inches and was now very slightly touching the line on the other side! I got the stoller out again and noticed the lady looking my way and analyzing my parking job. I stared at her for a few seconds and proceeded to get the boys out and ready to go. I think the attendant started walking my way again, but changed her mind when she saw my pregnant self getting my 2 other kidlets out of the car and into the stroller!

Well, after all that, the elevator was broken! I was about ready to give up and go home at that point, but decided against it. I had already put off this test for weeks because of the ordeal I knew it would involve. I folded up the stoller, had Jake carry their little bag full of treats down the stairs, and I lugged my stuff and the stroller while holding Warren's hand down the 3 flights of stairs.

What an injustice right? Perhaps, but I know that it was more of a test that the Lord sent my way, one which I failed miserably at, but later was able to learn from. I've often heard friends at church say that there is no more sanctifying time in life than when you have small children, and while I agreed with them before, I am now fully convinced of it! How thankful I am that the boys were with me because if they weren't, I know I would have said something to that poor lady that I shouldn't. I was forced to exercise self-control at that point, which is exactly the lesson we are trying to reinforce and cement in Jake. How easy it would have been to fly off at the mouth and let anger get the best of me, which, incidentally, is another thing we're working with Jake on. A verse we go over and over with him is James 1:19 "But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." How perfectly appropriate and timely for the Lord to show me that I have much to learn and work on in the midst of teaching my children the very same truths.

Yikes. Well, the 3 of us actually had a fun time in that hour. We watched the ducks swim in the pond, ate some Cheerios, and read a few books. Jake even got to watch the lab technician take blood from mommy-cool. I guess the day wasn't so bad after all.