Cooler than Dad!

Woo hoo, I have finally done it. For a few brief but wonderful hours I was cooler than Sean. I mean, I'm the mother. I am never cool. I make the kids eat broccoli and brush their teeth and do school work all day long to hear them tell it. But Dad -- well, the minute the kids hear the garage door go up it's all, "Dad, Dad, Dad!" They run through the house trying to be the first one to see him and hug him and tell him all about their days. Please keep in mind they are usually pushing me out of the way to get to him.

But today I did it. For two solid hours one of my children thought I'd hung the moon. I'd arranged for Amy to take horse riding lessons. And she loved it.

She rode Rosie and the two of them, and Mrs. H, the instructor, got along just fine. Amy learned all about horse safety, how to approach Rosie, and how to walk around her. She learned how to sit back on her pockets and direct the horse with her body movements. She thought the coolest thing was getting Rosie to stop just by being still. She got Rosie to turn right and left. She learned how to make an emergency dismount and she got to walk Rosie back to the barn after the lesson.

And she loved it. Every minute of it.

And I loved it! I did it! I was the one who arranged it! I became the "it" parent!

We had some errands to run after the lesson so we hurried home so she could change out of her barn clothes. And as she was changing, she came to me, hugged me and said, "Thanks, Mom."

It was the best morning I've had in a long, long time.

(First published September 21, 2005)

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