As a Homemade Mother, I pride myself on my spirit of self-reliance. I like doing things on my own, and I take great pleasure in working out simple solutions to everyday problems. But, tonight I was faced with the most daunting of challenges:
The car battery died. And I was miles from home. With all three kids. At dinnertime.
I hate to turn myself into a stereotype, but when it comes to car problems I am a total girl. I am only too delighted to leave flat tires and dead batteries and loose mudflaps to my husband. In our house, he fixes broken electronics and kills the bugs and grills the meat.
When I realized that the car battery was dead I called my husband in a state of panic: how was I supposed to get the car started (with three kids strapped into their seats getting angrier by the second)?! He calmly talked me though the portable battery charger we had in the trunk. Of course it was out of power so I had no choice but to track down a stranger and ask for a jump. In the chilly and darkening parking lot I recruited two adorable and lovely twenty-something girls who sweetly came to my rescue.
It took the three of us five minutes just to figure out how to open the hoods of our cars. Then another 10 minutes to cautiously attach the cables – yes, there were sparks and yes, it freaked us out! In so many ways, the scene was the epitome of a bad anti-feminist joke “how many girls does it take to jump start a dead car battery?”
Meanwhile, Vivian was wailing with thick, wet tears streaming down her red face. And Mack peed his pants (poor guy!). And Evie was freaked out because she thought I had been hit by a car. It was my own personal hell. After many tense minutes, we got the car started and I promised those sweet young women that I would pay their favor forward.
When the engine started I was overcome with an immense wave of pride. Since getting married, I’ve gotten lazy with tasks like this; I take for granted that my handy husband will come to my rescue. But, its my job to teach my girls that they can confidently navigate any challenge. Being a Homemade Mother means more than just self-sufficiency at home – its self-sufficiency in life.
After saying good-bye to the girls and closing the hood, I sat in the driver’s seat and gave myself a moment to decompress before starting the drive home. I just needed a few deep breaths to calm my frazzled nerves. As I exhaled, a little chirp came from the back seat: “Mommy, I have to go potty.”
Sigh.
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That sounds awful! 🙁
there are some very nice and relatively inexpensive boxes made just for you to charge up at home and keep in your car or trunk so you can start your own car easily without having to ask anyone for help ,there is a new one that just pushes into the cigarette lighter and in fifteen min it has your car charged without you ever having to get out of the car.I imagine you can buy all of these products on line or at a discount store ,tire store or car parts store ,good luck
We had one of those, but it didn’t have enough power to start the car the other night. Just my luck!
Triple AAA is an inexpensive way to not have to deal with these kinds of issues. I have called them after locking keys in the car, flat tire, towing, and dead battery. They always showed up quickly and were extremely professional.
I thought of something you might check out before you need it ,when I lived in wichita ,ks I found out in a hurry people dont stop and jump start your car or help you with your keys locked in the car very often,there you call a taxi service and for $10then a taxi would come out and unlock your car or jump start it for you . The police arent allowed to anymore because of the insurance issues etc .I used the taxi service more than one time lol
That’s an interesting idea! I recently started using more and more coconut oil in my baking. Its such a versatile and healthy ingredient!