The game is just now ending. :-(

[navygreen]

I'm so very tired of being so stupid with maps and directions. Some folks find it funny, but I hate that I can't figure these things out, and it actually makes me really sad and disappointed.

A.J.'s game was at noon today, and it was here in Bellevue. We made it just fine. His game ended at 1pm, and we stopped by the house for dessert/snack.

Jack's game was scheduled for 2:30pm in Plattsmouth. When we got home, I studied directions online for several minutes. I tried to Mapquest the park where the fields are located, but the search engine didn't know what I meant, and I couldn't input any more information than just the park's name. I had a color print-out map from the coach in the car, and I studied it for several minutes, trying to make some sense of it in correlation to the few directions located on the website.

Finally, at 1:40, I took a deep breath, hoped for the best, and we got on the road. I drove and drove, and nothing looked at all like the stoplight intersections the coach's map told me to look for. I was supposed to be on Hwy. 75-S, and then I needed to turn left at the intersection (with a stoplight) for Hwy. 34-E. I looked and looked and looked. I drove forever, and the minutes just keep ticking by on the clock. At 2:20pm, we had just hit Union, Nebraska, and the road signs on the side of the road said 75-S:34-E - that we were on BOTH roads at the same time. I was so frustrated because I can't even understand how we can be on two ENTIRELY DIFFERENT roads at the same time!

I turned around and traveled back up 75 going north. I turned right at the first stoplight we came to (several miles down the road), and then I was able to find the right roads to lead me to the soccer fields. Finally!

Only, it was then 2:40, and his team was nowhere in sight. In fact, there were only a few families of a girls' soccer game that had just ended. I asked for help from a set of parents, and I showed them my map. They weren't sure where to go, but they did live in Plattsmouth, and their best estimates placed the field I needed to find at a completely different park complex - about 15-20 more minutes away, and back down 75-S.

So I tried again. Finally, at 3:00pm, I was so very lost from where they had said I probably needed to be, and there was just no hope of making it. The game would've already been at halftime, even. I told the boys that it was too late, and that I was just going to head back home. Jack seemed fine with that, knowing that I had really, really tried.

I wasn't fine, though. About a minute after telling them, and the two of them sinking happily back into song in the car, I started crying. I felt so frustrated, so stupid. I mean, this isn't a new thing for me - I'm constantly lost - and I hate it. I hate just not understanding maps even though I try SO HARD. I hate missing out on something because I'm too stupid to find the location. I just feel so dumb.

I pulled myself together, but then the tears started again a few more times. I am just so disappointed in myself. I'm crying even now, as I type this entry. And I'll be fine in a bit, of course, but then when Philip gets home at 5pm, and he asks how Jack's game went...

I know I'll cry and feel sad, frustrated, stupid and disappointed again. :-(

Comments

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad Jack understand and was OK with not making it to the game.

I got a GPS because of this kind of problem (made worse because of MS symptoms that I don't have as much anymore) but it just frustrated me more! Told me to turn left over divided highways and right onto a road that was 80' up. And I couldn't always understand which right they meant when there were multiple choices! Until it was too late & I saw myself veering off the route. :P It usually got me to my destination, but not always in the best way.

Lately I've been using Google Maps. And really paying attention to how far ahead the next turn is. I use the trip odometer to keep track of that. (reset at every turn) That way I know right away if I missed a turn.

But the biggest thing is really knowing the destination. Make sure the coach tells you where it really is! In as simple a way as possible.

I've missed so many things because of BS problems like this - problems that leaving super early can't help. I was really late for a recent Dr. appt. Had to call up & was so upset. But they took me anyway.

Good luck. The most important thing is you've got a wonderful, understanding son.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all the tips. I appreciate your being so kind and not thinking me an idiot, really.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

I think it would be well worth it to you to get a GPS. It will save you so much time and frustration.

*HUGS*

Jack is so sweet for being so understanding.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I never realized so many people used them, and for regular, everyday stuff. I always just thought they were for roadtrips and such.

[goodjoan]

I second the GPS suggestion. They do take a little getting used to but they help a lot! Mine is a rather low budget option (Mio) and it does have some quirks too but I used it for months just around town so I could get used to the oddball parts. It still tries to route me over a train track where there is no longer a road, or says turn left, when the road doesn't have a turn, just a deep curve in the road, etc. Mine says the road names so that fixes the problem with "turn here" when there are several roads. Instead of "turn left" it says "Turn left on Main Street." The maps are easy to read though and it recalculates the route very quickly if I miss a turn or there is a detour or whatever. It doesn't always go the way I'd go, but it does get me there!

Dan kept taking mine when he was going running, to help find the farther away parks and reserves so I finally got him his own. I spent more on his but it's much fancier. (Navigon) The maps can be upgraded to reflect changes, it pops out to a 'real view' (not real but very good graphic renderings) of the actual exit ramp when you are getting off the highway. It says the road names, but also shows lane information so if you are faced with an intersection with 6 lanes, it will tell you which one is the one you need to make your turn (or make the NEXT turn!) It offers to re-route due to traffic delays and all sorts of nifty things! I may ask it to do our taxes next year.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a real consideration at this point. Maybe I'll receive one for my birthday this year. :-)

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

I third the GPS suggestion. Mine is a Garmin Nuvi - a higher end one. If I know where I am, I do ignore its suggestions sometimes - but it helped me find a shorter route to my dentist on the first time out. It also kept getting us in traffic in VA going to North Carolina, but I suspect there was no other way to go (I'd keep re-routing but ended up jumping between I-95 and US-1).

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I just never realized how many people use/need them. It's so comforting to know I'm not alone. Thank you!

[spiffanda.livejournal.com]

I am the SAME WAY. I am forever getting lost. I fail at travelling. How many times have I called home, crying, "I'm lost. Will you please google this street for me and tell me how to come home?"

My husband sometimes thinks it is cute, but sometimes he gets mad at me. He doesn't understand why I am always getting lost. My kids are used to it, they don't give me a hard time.. but I wonder if they secretly think I'm an idiot every time I announce, "Oh no. We're on the wrong road."

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Maybe you and I should both get a GPS, and soon!

[redwink.livejournal.com]

You are a great mom, a fabulous person, and very very intellegent. Being bad at reading maps (of questionable quality, from the sounds of it) does not in any way lessen these truths.

The other commenters have great suggestions for future solutions (GPS, GoogleMaps instead of Mapquest). Another idea is to see if there are more directionally adept parents on the team that can help.

But you're feeling bad now. Please don't. Consider the fact that you might not have been the only parent who got lost. It sounds like the map really wasn't that good. And even if no one else had problems, you are still a very smart person.

If it helps any, today I had to remind my mother, who has known me all my life, that numbers just don't stick in my head. If she wants me to give her an accurate number, she needs to let me read it, not try to dredge it up from memory. I can recite Shakespeare, organize large bunches of information, design eyecatching fliers and newsletters, and sing beautifully. But I'm bad at numbers. I always have been. This does not make me stupid. And being bad at maps/directions does not make you stupid.

*hugs!*

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks, girl. It is very comforting to read that so many of my flist have this same problem - makes me feel more normal, I guess.

I think a GPS is in my future, for sure.

[kechara.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I get lost alot too. :-)

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for telling me. I feel better, knowing I'm not the only one.

[bigbrain61.livejournal.com]

You need a Magellan, love. It'll be the best investment ever.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I accept all gifts. ;-)

[butterflymama3.livejournal.com]

I used to be pretty bad at navigating until I had a boyfriend who couldn't find his way out of a paperbag. He was trying to buy a house and had us driving all over NJ. I learned to read the maps pretty quickly. That said I still like having my GPS. I have a Garmin like lesliepear does. It is invaluable in going places that I don't generally go. Plus I like that it gives you an estimated arrival time that is usually spot on. DON'T feel terrible about missing Jack's game. I suspect you aren't the only parent that couldn't find it.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

It helps to hear of everyone else having difficulty with directions, too. We'll be doing a dry-run to find it on Friday night this weekend, as I've got to get A.J. to a game on those same fields on Saturday morning.

[gardenmama.livejournal.com]

:( This is why I always make a dry run the day before if I have to drive to someplace new. It is terrifying to me to be lost.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

That's the plan for this coming Friday night, as A.J. has a game on those fields the next morning, and Philip will be working military that day.

[chelelev.livejournal.com]

GPS is your friend.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it will be, for sure. I feel better knowing that so many other people are friends with GPS, too. I thought I was alone in this problem!

[hp5freak.livejournal.com]

for reasons like this alone, I justified a purchase of a GPS for my mom for her birthday this year.

she told me later that week when she went to work, a route that she knows really well, she had a little cry to herself because though she knew the way, with her new little "toy" she would never be lost again.

considering my mom has lived in our town pretty much her whole life and she still doesn't always know where she is going, I know that she (and I) completely understand your feelings of frustration.

trust me. if you can find a way, get a GPS. you won't regret it, darlin'.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the insight. I think I've decided to ask for one for my birthday this year, in fact. :-)

[cmmunchkin.livejournal.com]

The GPS really is a life saver. My model is older, but it still is invaluable. It has only led me astray about twice.

I know it's frustrating though. But the coach should really have given you more info. You didn't even have an address?

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Nope, no address. I get to try again this weekend for a game of A.J.'s, but Philip's going to help me find it the night before. I hate wasting the gas for feeling stupid, but I'm not missing another game!