Charanda's

Last week seemed to be filled with moments of humility:

I fell in the cafeteria. I'm a high school teacher--so...I fell in front of a bunch of high schoolers. It involved taco salad, me on the floor, and the potentiality of You Tube videos.

On Thursday, my husband took over all bedtime duties and sent me to pick up take-out at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I looked forward to these nights--a few minutes away, to recollect, to be around people without being around people. One of the servers began talking to me. For good or for bad, he recognized me because of my very exuberant son. I knew he had a daughter close in age to my two year old, and we began to talk. His wife just had another baby, she's staying at home with the children now....and immediately I became jealous.

I could empathize with the decision for sure, but here they had chosen what, on some days, I would jump at the opportunity to do. Be a mom all day long. But his rationale for the decision echoed familiarly in my ears as well--"in the end, she would only make an extra $40 or $50 a month after we paid babysitters." It's a hard choice. Many of us face it.

And so, I paid my $40 tab...and left.

The fall was worse this time. How had I missed it? Our dilemmas were similar, but I just dropped the difference in her salary on dinner. Our choices come from the same heart, but our realities are different. So grateful for an excision of pride here.