The Agony of Defeat
View from the ground. |
I have... frequently.
In fact I did just yesterday, and as always it was quite embarrassing.
You see, the kids didn't have school yesterday (parent teacher conferences) so we took the chance to head over to the park for a little fresh air and playtime. Remewin was out there running around with the best of them while I chatted with some of the other park-moms.
Things were going well. The air was crisp with only a small bite to it. The leaves were falling gently to the ground. Remewin was climbing to the top of the slide. The grass was green.
Wait...
I sat up. My 15 month old was nearly to the top.
I hurried over to the play set while the other mothers moved on.
"Baby." I said in that sweet, gentle mother's voice, "You can't be climbing up here by yourself. Did you want to go down the slide?"
Being the wonderful mom that I am, I gently placed her on my lap and sat at the tip-top of that long straight fall to the ground.
"I hate slides." I muttered to myself as my other three kids crowded around me.
"You're going to go down the slide?!" They asked, excited (I don't usually participate in the play).
"Yep." I breathed. "Have I ever told you why I don't like slides?"
"Yes, Mom." They chimed in that tone that suggest I've told them one to many times.
So I did what anyone would do at the top of a slide. I let go.
To say that I slid would be an understatement. I rocketed. I broke the sound barrier. I may have passed the speed of light.
Remewin did not like it and by the time we hit the bottom of the slide (0.3 seconds later) she was protesting vocally.
Except what neither of us knew in that moment was that the ride wasn't over.
No.
Have Remewin in my arms cause me to careen forward. My feet landed soundly on the ground but my upper body kept going. I took a quick few shuffling steps to try to compensate.
It didn't work, so I took a few more.
Pretty soon I was running pell-mell across the grass like a charging bull. My legs weren't offsetting the extra thirty pounds in my arms but they were sure trying.
My mind was racing. Okay, at some point I'm going to have to land. How do I do this without hurting Remewin. What are my options. Why can't my stupid legs move faster.
Eventually I hit ground.
Hard.
I'm not sure how I managed it but I set Remewin down gently next to me as I skidded to a grand and painful halt and rolled onto my back.
Ouch.
In seconds the kids were above me laughing.
"Mom, that was so funny!"
"Wow. Why did you keep going?"
"Mom, you so silly."
I grabbed my startled Remewin into my arms and cuddled her and laughed. "Did we fall down!?" I giggled. Remewin wasn't sure what to make of it all, so she just went along with everyone's smiles.
Still laying on the ground (splayed out like a dead man) I wondered if the other mom's had seen my not so graceful demise. They probably did... it always works that way.
I sat up. I had grass stains on my favorite pair of jeans that ran from my shins all the way to my knee's. My ankle was aching, my knee was aching (yes... the gimp knee even). I looked around and laughed a bit hysterically.
I was about 2 yards away from the slide.
The stupid thing had rocketed me.
The kids were still laughing and replaying the whole event. I smiled at them and laughed, all the while knowing I was going to pay for my mishap in the morning.
And that's the truth--falling down as an adult never goes well. I don't know if it's because we're just so much heavier, or if it's because we're further off the ground. Maybe it's because we're out of shape or our bones aren't as supple... whatever it is the truth is that when I woke up this morning my left side ached from neck to ankle.
Forgotten as the event is in the minds of my kids, I'm still here paying the price.
And I'm still wondering if those other mom's saw me--because, somehow, that would make it all so much worse.
Comments
(and congrats on the baby safe landing!)