The beginning of our afternoon walk in the woods was not my shining moment as a parent. We had arrived early and when I didn't see the other moms and kids, I drove up and over the bridge and parked near the park sign. And after ten minutes passed without anyone else arriving, we started our walk back over the bridge.
"Maybe everyone is meeting somewhere else," I said. "Maybe they are by the beach. Maybe Mommy has it wrong."
The bridge was just too exciting and new for Sam to cross it quickly, even with the promise of Hamilton on the other side. And Mommy was focused on finding Hamilton, and more importantly Hamilton's mommy. Any mother of a 3-going-on-4-year-old might understand how desperately I needed to find another Mommy to talk to, how tired I was of negotiating every, single, little, thing. And I'm not proud of the way I rushed Sammy across the bridge. But in the end we found Ham and Ham's little sister, and my savior, Ham's mommy. We enjoyed some brief adult conversation in between races along the bridge despite my insane fear of the bouncy balls going down the bridge drains and in to the river to be lost forever. And when Sam went in the water shoes-and-socks-and-pants-up-to-his-knees, I just sat in the sand and exhaled. A beautiful afternoon for a hike along the river that left me wanting more time with these friends.
6 comments:
There you go again with those great photos! Faces tell - the kids had a great time! Why do I only remember a crying baby, a river-soaked boy, and interrupted conversation :) Oh, to be a kid again!
Barb,
Your writing and pictures truly captured a wonderful fall day! I think there were lots of moms that went home with river soaked kids. There were also lots of children that went home feeling great about how they spent their afternoon with their parents. Good memories!
I'm glad I get to be part of that.
Ann
That picture of Eva makes me think she is starting to get the negotiating "bug" too! My son is 4 1/2 and he still tries to talk me into things one hundred ways to Saturday!
You do a great job of helping your children experience the beauty of the natural world--what a great fall day!
That's not Eva. That's Ham's little sister. One week younger than Eva. Absolutely adorable spitting image of her mommy.
Love it Barb! I'm just getting caught up on your blog and having a great time reading about your adventures.
It looks like such a beatiful day. I'ts hard to believe that those are now behind us for another 6 months or so. boo-hoo! Glad you enjoyed it while you had it.
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