Knowing Things

I love it that my son can write. I use him as my secretary in the car on the way to school when he is with me. I often think of things I need to do or things I need to buy, so I ask Benjamin to get out a notepad (yes, I keep one in the car) and take notes. Now that he's 9, he can spell most of the words I need him to write. He's made shopping lists for me and sometimes will add something he wants, like a CD, which I find very funny. He's also learned to use the calendar feature on my cell phone to make notes and reminders for me at my direction - very cool, because it reminds me and I don't have to keep track of little notes! :D

This morning, I decided I needed to make a note to look up on a map more of the area I travel coming to Franklin from Ridgetop. I know the general area I am travelling, but yesterday, I realized I needed to know more about where Trinity Lane goes (besides over to I-65), where Douglas Avenue goes, where Briarville Road goes...you get the idea. Why did I need to know this information? Well, as we were getting onto Ellington Parkway from I-65 yesterday, Benjamin said, "Um, Mom, you're not gonna like to hear this.... (long pause)...but I have to go to the bathroom." Yes, this happens often enough that he knows I'm usually not thrilled to have to get off the highway in rush hour, but I have realized there are worse things to deal with. Like not knowing where the hell to go when you get off at Trinity Lane (from Ellington Parkway) and realize, this isn't like over by the interstate where there are lots of hotels, McDonald's, etc. So I ended up seeing this side road with a big gravel lot, a small house-turned-into-business and a man outside working on his truck. I pulled in, parked, and said, "Excuse me, sir? My son needs to use the restroom - could he use the one inside?" The man was so nice and stopped what he was doing and took us inside so B could use the restroom. I know it could have been a bad situation, but at this point, Benjamin NEEDED to go and I had no real choice unless I wanted to buy new clothes for B that morning.

As we were leaving the parking lot heading back to our route, I noticed that there is a police presinct right there. Good to know. I thought, well, maybe I should get to know these side streets and areas better. I probably would have stopped at the police station to see if B could have gone there instead.