The Mom Chronicles: Unexpected Pride
Hey, moms. In case you felt my absence last week, it can be attributed to only one of the worst bouts of GI flu I have ever had. Now that you have that bit of TMI I thought in light of the week I had, I would enlighten you with a lighter column this week and kind of pop around a bit, sharing a few highlights of our summer so far.
As we get in to the dog days and are somewhere between hating to see it go, not ready to give up the beach quite yet, and looking forward to the change of leaves and football games, I wanted to share with you some of the things that have set this summer apart from others for the Petersons.
Most notably for us, the kids are growing up. That means that while only two and four, we are able to venture out a bit more easily then in the past. We have already had our share of outings, and truly have tried to venture out every weekend. This summer Ella has had her first real go around on carnival rides, to her delight, and the true joy in my heart is when I got to take her on the carousel (my favorite) for the first time. I also got to take Matty on the big old fashion Coney Island carousel at Como Park. I think that was the greatest thing ever. Truly brings out the little girl left in me. The radiance in his face was priceless. Something no camera could ever begin to grasp. And Ella, while her ride was only on the one at Rivertown days, the reaction was near the same. This summer, since we are on the topic of rides, I also brought Matthew on his first rollarcoaster. Granted it was the mini one at Como Park, but there is nothing like going on a ride like that with your child for the first time and experiencing the thrill as if you are four all over again.
We've been to the beach. A lot. I even took the kids to the water park solo. That was surprisingly a good experience. We have gone to the McDonald's playplace, though after an unfortunate incident with a child not being able to hold their bladder inside it and the staff not so quick or concerned to clean it (ugh!!!!) we won't be back real soon! We've been to the zoo, several times, but have yet to get passed the polar bears and butterflies. Those darn rides at Como town seem to get in our way! Ah, and there was fishing where at lake Rebecca Matthew caught more turtles, including a huge snapper on his little Spiderman line, then fish! Matthew can pump the swing on his own now, and Ella is a dancing machine. She is constantly looking for opportunities to show off her moves to anyone willing to watch.There have been parades and fireworks and trips to pick berries.
But this summer hasn't been all fun and games. There was the incident at the beach, for example, that I won't soon forget. We had our first bit of stuff (aka playdough) up the nose and mom had to come to the rescue. We've been to the ER for a bee sting, in which my son is allergic (and that was followed this weekend with four more stings. He must taste awefully sweet!) We've had tumbles out of bed as Ella adjusts to a "big girl" toddler bed, and our share of scrapes and bruises as well.
Above all, though, perhaps the most surprising of all has been what my being in school has done for my family. My children now go to bed with ambulances and firetrucks under their arms. I got the opportunity to bring Matthew with on a mass casualty incident that my class planned and he got to play a patient. Watching him be taken under the wing of classmates as he oohed and awed over the ambulances was fantastic. He prances around the house in my EMT boots and uniform for school, and his fireman hat. He was in fact quite upset when I told him I would be gone the next couple weekends as I have the fabulous opportunity to ride with Burnsville fire. He said, "MOM! I want to drive the firetrucks and ambulances! Not you!" And Ella gets ever so angry if we can't drive by the fire department each day and see the "woos" and "kire kucks" as she calls them.
As for me, I still have a 4.0. That's right, after three classes I still have straight A's, I am proud to say. And perhaps that is the biggest thing that has changed for this family. Finally, my family has a mom they can be proud of. Take pride in. My kids actually want to be like me. They dress up like me, be it in my school uniform or shoes. They talk about what mom gets to do. We drive by school and Matty says, "Mom! There's our school!" as he was so proud to go be a helper at. And that my moms, is what this summer has been all about. Yes, there has been the fun in the sun and games and garage sales and so on, but this mom has learned an aweful lot about where she has been and where she is going and that's one thing that will eternally set this summer apart from the rest.
Have a safe and wonderful week!
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