Lotus flower

I hate giving my dad crap because he means well, but sometimes meaning well isn't enough. Remember how I had a toddler tantrum at him in December because he continued to approach the skid-prone car that I was trying to park? All I could do was roll down the window and scream "GET THE F* AWAY FROM THE CAR! NOW!" and he still didn't. And I was already furious at him because before I got to the driveway, he (I was following his car back from the mechanic's) kept stopping along the way to let me "catch up" even though he knew I knew the way and I was deliberately trying to keep my distance because the car was skidding.

Well, this not unlike what happened this afternoon. In which, for a good half-hour or more, I worried about them and wondered whether something had happened.

We took two cars to go see Nina, so as to leave one with Nina to have while she's in town. Mom offered to ride with me, but I declined on account of not needing a backseat nag. I stated clearly that I'd be fine, because if they lost me, I'd just use the phone. They even saw me put Nina's parents' address into my phone just in case. I explicitly said, "do not wait for me. I will find it."

So, naturally, when I took a wrong turn, dad apparently decided to wait for me. Because that could possibly be helpful?? I didn't even realize he'd seen me miss the turn; he'd gotten through a light that I'd stopped at, so I thought they were far ahead of me. I took a wrong turn, realized it immediately, and got back on the right road. Because I have GPS on my phone and he knows that.

I got to Nina's parents' place, expecting to find my parents there. But my parents were nowhere to be seen. And it must have been another 30-45 minutes before they showed up. During which I wondered what could have happened. When dad told me that he'd stopped to wait for me I had a fit. Because WTF. I wouldn't have seen them anyway. I wasn't looking for them. I'd told them not to wait for me.

***
Mom declared the baby adorable. Everyone kept telling Nina what to do ("don't hold her like that," "I think she's cold," "I think she's hungry") and I couldn't help but tell everyone to shut up. When we left, mom asked me when she'd get her grandbaby, and then noted that the cat was all I was good for. It's almost enough to incite me to have a revenge baby just to keep it the hell away from her.