Bested by a Hunk of Metal (with a pretty ringtone)

My perfect record is now broken. I used to think of myself as "smug driver" a la the Bridget Jones "smug married" character. For 22 years, 3 months and 11 days, I was a perfect driver. Or so my record (or lack thereof) would say. Sure, I had a few times when I was pulled over, but I always drove away WITHOUT a ticket. Until yesterday. I guess I knew that it would happen to me someday. Until yesterday I happily drove along as "smug driver," even with screaming kids in tow.

But I have been bested by the mighty cell phone. I wasn't hands free, and I got caught -- on a Sunday morning pulling away from the drive-through coffee stand. And there's my defense: I hadn't had my coffee yet.

The only benefit from the situation was my ability to use it as a teaching moment(well, more like a teaching lecture as it lasted the whole drive down to Pasadena...): Aidan and Colin were in the car with me when it happened. As they near the ages when they will want to be behind the wheel, I'm certain it helped for me to model appropriate behavior when confronted with an officer at your car window. Because as much as I'd love to believe that my sons will be perfect drivers (like I WAS), I have read the insurance fine print and I'm no fool: boys and cars = trouble. Hopefully, the trouble will be minor. But I'm fairly certain that one of my boys (Aidan..) will more than likely be pulled over sometime in his early driving days. So really, if you spin it the right way, I was just being an extra-thorough mom by modeling appropriate ticket-receiving-behavior.

Today I had to take over the high school carpool (just temporarily, thank goodness.) It took me almost 1 hour to get all the kids to school (not counting Julia, who had to walk.) Then it took another hour to pick everyone up and drop them off after school. And guess what I wasn't doing the whole time I was driving?

Talking on the phone.