Waiting for Trains

So, I thought I should give a little explanation about the title of my blog. We live in a small town and I think we have something like 55 trains pass through this town a day. There are very few places you can go without crossing at least one set of railroad tracks. Needless to say, a lot of my time in the car is not spent at stop lights but rather at railroad crossings waiting for trains. For example, I was volunteering at Lindsey's school which is a 5 minute drive from my house and had to take Ethan and Emily to a friends to be babysat. My friend lives 5 minutes from our house the opposite direction of the school. I figured if I allowed 30 minutes to drop the kids off and get back to the school I would be on time - even if I had to wait for a train. Wrong! I ended up being 15 minutes late to Lindsey's school because I spent 20 minutes waiting for a train.  I have tried to be philosophical about waiting for trains. Waiting for a train is like trials in life - some of them are longer than others -  but, if you just stay your course the trials will eventually pass and you will get where you need to be. However, it still really bugs me to wait for a train when I have some place to be. Especially when you never know when you will have to stop and wait at a railroad crossing. As a child I used to love counting train cars and watching the trains go by. At what age is waiting for a train not exciting anymore? Emily loves the trains and is actually disappointed when she doesn't see one.  Jacob tolerates the trains. And the other day Lindsey said, "Oh, not another train!." Apparently, their novelty wears off at around age seven.