Image by Fungai Tichawangana from Pixabay
By Kelli Bowen
Sometimes I wish I was five. It seems much easier to go from sadness to ecstasy when one is five. Let’s take Miss A for example.
This afternoon Miss E and Miss A went to the park behind our house. There’s a little walking path that goes into a loop so from my desk, I can pretty much see all of the excitement. Miss E unearthed her roller blades from some boxes a couple days ago and now her friends have found theirs too, so there’s a gaggle of third grade girls running the neighborhood on rollerblades. Miss E is instructed to “keep an eye” on Miss A when they’re out and not return without her little sister.
I am working and hear the distinct sound of my child crying. I look up and see Miss E comforting Miss A as they walk toward home. I fly out to the deck to see what’s going on and find out why my youngest is being comforted by a gaggle of skate-wearing mother hens. My children come in the house and Miss E tells me Miss A is sad because she doesn’t have rollerblades.
Being relinquished of her sister-watching duty, Miss E rolls down the path with the rest of the giggling gaggle. I ask Miss A what’s wrong and she tells me through big alligator tears that she doesn’t have skates so she can’t keep up with “the big girls.” My heart just fell and I said, "We can fix that."
We were already planning to go into town that evening so when Hubby came home, I asked him if he’d be willing to go to our favorite sporting goods store and get Miss A set up. He was all in. As Miss E and I ran errands, Hubby and Miss A went on their mission, and they were successful.
When I saw the picture of the box of rollerblades, I texted Hubby hoping he also picked up a helmet or pads or something. Oh Hubby ain’t no amateur. Not only did he get all the safety gear for Miss A, he also picked up new pads for Miss E. He also had Miss A fitted for a new helmet and picked out one that she can decorate, so when the weather takes a dive tomorrow (which it’s supposed to do), she can stay in and decorate. Have I mentioned Hubby is amazing? ‘Cause he is.
After getting all decked out and falling several times in the garage, it was time for bed. Miss A was sad she has to go to school tomorrow and can’t just practice rollerblading, but the sheer joy on her face at the prospect of being able to keep up with the big girls was enough to make the tears and price tag totally worth it. After seeing how much joy a pair of rollerblades brought her, maybe I need to get some rollerblades…tune in for my next blog I’m sure it will be something like, “How I Broke My Wrist.”
Kelli makes her home in Cass County with her husband, two daughters (8 and 5) and two dogs. She works for a regional seed company by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend and writer by night.
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