A Little Kindness on a Long Journey

The drive to East Lansing went pretty well.  But it is too long.  At the 8 hour and 1 minute mark Jeff and I usually look at each other and say, "Why didn't we stick to the 'within 8 hour radius of home' rule when looking for jobs?"  But, jobs don't always make themselves available within our parameters, do they? Otherwise, one would have magically appeared at Michigan State...

Anna is usually the culprit for making things unpleasant.  She started asking for lunch as soon as her audiobook ended (Recommendation: Kenneth Brennaugh does an amazing performance of "The Magician's Nephew," which is the fabulous prequel to the Narnia series).  We pulled into Wendy's, a place we all agree on.  The girls angled for Frosties in place of their drinks.  Fine.  But inevitable thirstiness followed.  Molly asked first; it was probably the fries.  Jeff told her if she wanted water, she could ask at the counter.  He always is trying to get Molly out of her shell and making rules like this.  Molly always stubbornly resists, despite the discomfort of being thirsty, or whatever.  Anna finished and decided she wanted water too, and announced that she was fine with going up to the counter and asking.  As Jeff got up to keep an eye on the process, he whispered, "When I say these things, I had better follow through."  

Little Anna patiently (and adorably) waited in line, with Daddy standing nearby to watch over.  She got up to the counter and smiled and placed her order out of earshot.  She turned and gave us a quick, "Things are going great!" smile.  Molly and I cleared the table and joined Jeff.  Jeff suddenly said, "Is she getting TWO waters?"  She came over to us barely managing two large waters grinning, "Here, Moll - one for you too."  Jeff and I warned Molly that she'd better be totally nice to her sister the rest of the way.

We of course had to stop for gas and bathroom a few hours later.  And it was Anna's snack time.  We have a rule that all members of the family have to try to use the facilities when a mandatory stop occurs.  Molly was still in stubborn mode, and Jeff ok'd it, on the understanding that we were not stopping for her alone.  When in the travel center, Anna picked out a snack.  She exclaimed, "Where is Molly?"  Jeff, a little annoyed, said, "She didn't want to come in.  She doesn't get to pick out a snack."  Anna promptly said, "Well, I'll pick one out for my sissy."  And picked out a snack for Sis.  

Anna was actually the peacemaker on this voyage.  Well, except for during the last hour when she began repeatedly chanting her sentences for the express purpose of getting on her sister's nerves.  And asking us "Are we there yet?" in creative ways, every 5 minutes.  But, we were past the 8 hour mark at that point, so she's excused.