In Honor Of Tax Day

I guess I always knew I would be a soccer mom, except that currently none of my kids are actually playing soccer, I just didn't know it would start this early. I know the debate. On one side, kids today don't get to enough play time and are involved in too many scheduled, extracurricular activities. On the other, you have to put your kids in extracurricular activities since everyone else is involved in them otherwise there is nobody in the neighborhood for your kids to run around and play with. Plus, the outdoors are dangerous, very dangerous. I digress.

Overall we have a pretty busy schedule. Each of the older kids has several activities, during the day and after school, and even Amanda takes swimming lessons (you should see her off the high dive:)). Wednesday is by far my busiest day. I am truly a mad mom in a minivan. All of our activities are less than 2 1/2 hours and we only have a little time between each one. It seems like we just go from place to place to place. I am in the car most of the day, which means that Amanda is also in the car most of the day and does not get a proper (as said by my British friend, Ellie) nap. I am constantly having to map out when I can feed her and diaper her and stop by the house for "just five minutes" to grab a snack or go to the bathroom or do something for one of the kids. In a nutshell, I hate Wednesdays. They are stressful and I dread them every week.

However, for the past few months I have found something that gives me a good chuckle every Wednesday morning. Sarah has Nature School on Wednesdays. To get to Nature School we drive in a direction that we don't otherwise drive. One of the businesses that we pass on our way is a tax preparation office. It's in a non-descript location that you would easily drive right by if you didn't know exactly where it was. It's a tiny office, jammed between two other stores, and there's only about 3-4 stores/businesses in the complex. So easy to miss.

In January, ramping up for tax season, they hired someone to stand out by the road to bring in business. I've seen this before at other tax preparation offices. Someone dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume trying to get you to give their services a try. Usually the person is holding up a sign with the name of the business on it so it sticks in your head. Not this place. This office hired a skinny woman who is probably in her 50s or 60s, who stands in a five foot area near a busy road. She usually has ear buds in and is dancing up a storm. The first time I saw her she was so into her dancing, she was grabbing herself Michael Jackson style with her other hand behind her head. It was so funny not only did I laugh out load, I grinned and snickered every time I thought about it throughout the day. This went on every week, and I started actually looking forward to Wednesday, just a little bit, so she could start my day off with a smile.

I don't know how much they are paying this woman, but it probably isn't much. That doesn't stop her from getting out there are truly enjoying herself and giving her all for tax preparation. It kind of makes you think. You may not always have the best job, but why not make the best of it? She could be standing there with a sign, dreading her long day by the side of the road, but instead she puts on some tunes and dances away the day. If she can do that, why can't I enjoy my time in the car, blasting music as I go from activity to activity?

I know why. She doesn't have three little kids out there with her, whining about how thirsty, hungry, and tired they are, and fighting amongst themselves all the way. Nobody is asking her idiotic questions like "why won't Amanda look at me?" and "what color do you have to wear when it's not St. Patrick's Day?". Nobody is complaining about what music she is listening to and demanding that she change it. Hmmm, maybe minimum wage on the side of the road isn't so bad after all.