time to reprioritize

In the car today:

Grace: "Mom, look at what I drew!"

Me: "Gracie, I can't right now, I'm driving."

Grace: "Just real quick, look."

Me: "I can't. If I turn around then we might crash.  You see those people walking along the road? We wouldn't want to run into them."

Grace: "You're right, Mom.  We need to take care of our car."

Maybe this is my fault.  You see, when I was in my early twenties, I "t-boned" our boat while riding a jet ski.  I really wasn't paying attention and cut it too close to the beach and the boat while going pretty darn fast.  I was attempting to make a swooping turn to spray friends and family on the beach.  Oops.  I distinctly remember when I was a fraction of a second from hitting the boat that I was going to be in big trouble if I damaged the boat.  So, I lurched forward and tried to throw myself between the jet ski and the boat to cushion the blow.  Not so smart.  I missed and the boat ended a day with a hole in the side. 

Parenting rule #437: "People first. Things second."