Hoping for a New Normal #JerseyStrong

We've managed to return to normal here in the DKL house, here in the DKL town, post-Sandy. It happened a while ago, actually. Normal, of course, is all relative. Before that happened, though, there was a whole lot of not normal...

The Witch Pinata

The warnings were there. We didn't ignore them. Not completely, at least. We just... tabled them. Sandy was coming. It was making a bee-line for New Jersey and all indications were it was going to be bad. We had to get ready, but not for Sandy. For Halloween. Our annual child Halloween extravaganza. So that's what we did. The weather on the Saturday before the storm was eerily calm and overcast. Perfect for an outdoor Halloween party for a dozen or so kids. This day was business as usual. Fun needed to be had. A party needed to be thrown. That witch pinata desperately needed to be beaten down in a violent avalanche of sugary paradise. The hurricane could wait... for Sunday. 

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The Push of a Button

"Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy." ~Cynthia Nelms

I always seem to be getting the same message on my dashboard. A warning light. Yet, there really is no reason for me to worry. I'm talking about the "low washer fluid" light.

Why does it come on so much? I'm constantly pushing the button and washing my windshield. I find it therapeutic. It calms me. I also find it necessary because the pollen count was so ridculously high this spring and early summer.

But mostly, I like that I can press a button and something is immediately clean. With all of the meals I cook and pots I clean, with all of the clothes I wash and butts I wipe, with all of the chaos and mess a family with two working parents endures... it's reassuring to know that this one thing can be taken care of with a simple flick of my index finger.

Like picking your nose. Quick, effective, sometimes messier than anticipated, but mostly painless.

The Normal Button

And that's not the only button in my wonderful, fully-loaded swagger wagon that I find amusing and cathartic at the same time. In the way back... in the trunk... there are a series of buttons for the positioning of the third-row seats. Press the second button, and they stow away for extra cargo. Press the third, they flip and face the rear for tailgating. But my favorite is that first button. The one that says "normal."

That's right. I can push a button, and things will be normal. At least, the things in the back of my car will be. That is, if I remember to take the stroller out before I push the button. What an awesome power to hold. And it's hidden right there in the back of my car. Normalcy, with the push of a button. How wonderful.

I never thought I'd be a minivan guy. Yet here I am. Not only driving one, but loving it.

So if you see me driving around town, washer fluid flowing, with a smile on my face... just know I'm fine. Everything is normal.

If only it were  that easy.

We manage to be a one-car family with two working parents. Click here to find out how we do it. 

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