The Accidentally Cool Mom

My husband, friends and strange children often poke fun at me for being a tad overly cautious with my children at play grounds. I always freak out when they climb a ladder and step over a 6 foot deep chasm to get to the slides or do things I don't think they are quite able to do yet. I was even scolded by a five year old girl that I'd never met last year because I was trying to help Katy on to one of the bouncing animal things that was at the park (you know, the things that cause whiplash). I was told by the strange little creature: "Ya know, she does this all the time by herself when her dad brings her to the park!" My thoughts were: "Honey, when something gives you stretch marks, extra skin that has no where to go and ruins your body, you want to make sure you have a good long return on your investment." Instead, I backed off and let Katy do her thing.

This year was no different and we recently had some wonderful snow. I decided to let the kids sled down the hill in our yard where I could stand guard; plus, it was a much smaller hill than the one at the park. Safety is key, i.e. smaller hill=safer hill, right?? Well let me add that it has been quite some time since I have played in the snow; usually, I'm in the house with a baby that is too little to go out in the cold. And before that, I hated the white stuff, so didn't have much use for it (unless snowmobiles are involved, that's different). So, me being ultra-safety-mom, I decided since I was shoveling the driveway anyway, I would take the snow I was shoveling and put it at the end of the hill for a safety barrier/sled stopper so they wouldn't slide into the alley. Yes, you who still play in the snow know what I inadvertently did, don't you? I made the coolest jump ever. The first one slowly slid over it, and from there on out, they were catching air. I was right there to stop them, but was actually quite pleased with myself - my kids were, too. My kids thought that I finally threw all caution into the wind and did something really cool for them. Little did they know the whole thing was an accident, yet, I decided since I was standing a few feet from where they landed it was still safe. My kids thanked me over and over for the cool jump and I eventually lured them into the house to defrost over some hot-cocoa and popcorn. I was relieved that no one got hurt and everyone was happy. The children told Tom how cool I was when he got home from work and he was so proud of me for making the day extra fun for the kids, not to mention the thrill of a bit of danger. Later I confessed to him what I was actually trying to do. He just laughed at me... he knew I was only accidentally cool. Hey, I'll take what I can get.