The Post Office

Today was "one of those days."

I had a chaotic morning--everything seemed to be bugging my darling 4 year old. His shirt sleeves were too short, his winter jacket was too bulky, his socks were too small, and his shoes wouldn't buckle right. Oh--and then his seatbelt got twisted. Sheesh.
After making it out of the house just in the nick of time, I was able to down my coffee and relax a bit.
Deep breaths, Melissa. Deep breaths.
*inhaling*
*exhaling*

Ok---and I recovered.

I spent the entire rest of the morning running around. Drop Caitlin off at school, go visit Mimi and Pappaw, drop Christian off at school, go get a haircut, run home and lay Caroline down for a nap, eat my lunch, clean the house, wake Caroline up and go pick Christian up....

This is where it gets interesting.

After putting Christian in the car, I decided it was in my best interest to go mail some packages. It was 2pm, and I didn't think the lines would be too terribly crazy. I wasn't looking forward to this trip, simply because I knew my 2 smaller C's were very impatient. I crossed my fingers, unloaded the kids, and took my 2 heavy boxes in to the post office. To my surprise, there were only 2 people in the line! Of course there was only 1 lady open at the front, but it shouldn't take too long. I hopped in line and began the waiting process.
(Let me just insert here that YES--I do know about the 24hour mailing kiosks at the front of the post office. I used them regularly in fact. The only downside to them is that they do not let you mail stuff to military addresses or overseas. For those types of boxes, you must stand in line and be helped at the counter.)

10 minutes later....

I noticed the man being helped at the counter (now there was just 1 lady waiting in front of me) had over 20 small packages. Each was being scanned individually, and he was having to fill out customs forms for EACH one.
Jeez.
Caroline began to get antsy and wanted down off of the counter where I sat her for safe keeping. Christian was starting to slip out small whines every now and then.

15 minutes later....

A couple who had gotten out of line to get another form was allowed back in at the front of the line now, so that still left me and the woman in front of me waiting. The man with 1,001 packages was now gone, and---lo and behold! A man comes from the back and opens up a 2nd register.
Amazing.
Caroline is to the angry point. She wanted down and she wanted down NOW. Christian was in full whine mode and wanted to be held. Momma was sweating profusely and wanted out like a cat in a bathtub.

10 minutes later....
(Are you keeping count of how long this is taking???)

I FINALLY make it up to the desk, minus the 2 C's. I had let them go so they could wander around and look at the fascinating postcards, stuffed toys, and packing boxes. I just needed 2 minutes to give the packages to the lady and pay.
Or so I thought.
I was then informed that I needed to fill out customs forms.
*Rolling eyes*
Ok, so that set me back a few minutes. When I had finally completed those stupid forms, I turned around and noticed that not only was the line to the door now, but my 2 C's were pulling down displays. Nice.
I ran to grab Caroline. I scooped her up and barked at Christian to follow me. Seriously, folks, I was losing my cool. Tears were but a moment away, and I wanted to chunk my darlings out the window. Just as I made it back up to the counter with Caroline shreeking in my ear, I heard a voice say something about getting my kids under control.
I whipped around to see who said it.
Could it be? My sweet, awesome, amazing, wonderful, LIFE-SAVING friend Tina was the one who had jokingly said those words. She was at the back of the line, and left her place to come help me.

I am most certain that God sent her just at the right time. She saved me from a complete scream-fest in the middle of the post office.
Tina scooped up the 2 C's and left me to my business of package-sending.

I turned to the lady behind the desk, and before she could ask me if I wanted delivery confirmation on the boxes, I started to cry.
Not just small tears, but big mascara-running ones. I sniffled and tried to stop, but they flowed too fast.
The poor post office woman didn't know what to say or do. She just kept on scanning and typing my information in. Then---she reached across the desk and patted my hand.
"It will be ok. After all, it's the holidays. You have very sweet children, and I'm sorry they had to wait so long."
Me too lady, me too.

I sniffled again, wiped back enough tears so that I could see the debit machine, punched in my pin code, received my receipt, and left. The line of people was outrageous at this point, and I was super embarrassed that everyone was watching me pitifully retreat to my vehicle.
Tina was so sweet---she helped me load the 2 C's into the car, and then sat with me for a few minutes to make sure I was okay. I love special friends like that.
Tina, I owe you BIG TIME sister!! :)

45 minutes after entering the post office, I was on my way to get Caitlin from school.
I felt much better after leaving the parking lot, and my meltdown was over.

Lessons learned:
1. Do NOT go to the post office without the spouse---both for moral support and for kid-wrangling.
2. Don't sweat the small stuff. Children are huge blessings, even when they are on your last nerve. They aren't small forever, so enjoy them while you can.
3. Thank the Lord everyday for His love and provision. After all, He sends us angels when we least expect them to show up.
4. Love on your friends and make sure they know how important they are to you.

Man, nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a meltdown in the post office. :) Althought I was embarrassed and it was totally uncalled for, I admit it felt good.
Good to let others see that I was human.
Good that I was able to see the post office lady was human as well, and that she didn't really slow everything down just to push me to my breaking point.
Good that I don't have to step foot in the line of the post office again for at least another 6 months--possibly another year if I play my cards right. Ha!
Good that I can blog about such silly things, get a bit teary-eyed when recalling the events, and then laugh about it afterward.

*deep, cleansing sigh*
Wow--ok, so I'm now looking forward to tomorrow's blog--it's Friday Fess Ups time again! Yeehaw!