I think people have it all wrong.
I don’t think we’re living in the Deep South:
I think we’re living in a rainforest!
The last two months it has rained every day except for one day.
EVERY DAY.
No matter if there is a bit of sunshine, it will rain at some point.
Most likely even pour, not just sprinkle.
It’s dumping rain as I write!
It was okay for the first week or two.
And then I was getting a little tired of it.
But, I do love {love} rain, and a rainy day is SO cozy, and now?
It’s just an expected thing.
Well. Last weekend we had some more rain, but a bit heavier and faster than some showers.
This was a downpour that lasted quite a while, and after it stopped raining, I wanted to see the damages.
We live right across the street from a park, and I could tell it was flooded. And I wanted to explore a bit. So I rounded up the kids, and even though they weren’t too thrilled about going outside where everything was so wet when they could stay in a clean dry house, they came along.
The intentions were to just dip a few toes in the puddles, er, flood.
But there was a little slip, a little oops, and well,
since the park doesn’t flood every day, so enjoy it let’s make a memory!
[yes, I did check for power lines and other dangerous things. :)]
Scene 1. The Slip.
“I’m WET! Maybe I should cry?”
Scene 2: “Actually, this will be fun after all!”
Scene 3: “Living wild & free!”
I have to admit, when I allowed the girls to get into the water I felt some “bad mommy” feelings. Like, who allows their kids to play around in brown water? And what will people think of that?? And I know there are people who totally gross out over things like that, in a horrified manner. I’ve been there, I’ve been that horrified mother. And I’ve also seen other spasming mothers.
But I don’t want to be a “sanitized & safe” mom, one that is so ever-protective that kids can’t explore and live and do crazy [within reason! ha!] things. What a boring childhood I would have had if my parents hadn’t allowed me liberty within reasonable boundaries. And yet, it’s kind of scary, you know?
And when we were leaving the park, after playing for a long time, and getting a lot of crazy looks from passers-by, and I heard the girls say, “This was SOOOOOOO fun, Mom. I can’t wait to tell Daddy!” I knew it was worth it. The extra-scrubbing and sanitizing that would have to follow this little outing. The extra work of cleaning up and dirty clothes. And even the wondering what the people thought who passed by (and there was a lot of rubber-necking!).
That all really didn’t matter. What mattered is that my kids had a great time. What matters is that they made a great memory. What matters is that we laughed so hard and had a fun afternoon.
We did all have a great time.
And it was a good reminder to me to just be spontaneous,
to let go of some of my preconceived ideas of what good mothers do or don’t do,
to not be paralyzed because maybe other mothers would never do this particular thing;
but to let go, let loose, and simply be the mother God made ME to be ~
and to allow some unexpected fun in the way of a game of puddles. :)
Happy week to you!
