Your kids are never to old to scare you.
So me and daughter number one and daughter number two (12 years difference between them) are taking my nephews and Rory, the hot mess, on a walk in the state park.
It is a gorgeous day, breezy enough to keep the bugs down and the path is an easy hike. We decide to walk across the Swinging Bridge that spans the Patapsco River. It used to really swing when I was a kid, we would grab a hold of the rope/hand rails and really get that swinging bridge swaying over the river. But it has since been replaced by a new Swinging Bridge, that although does not quite have the action of the old bridge, it is significantly safer.
Then we hike down to the river to watch the boys and my youngest nose around the rocky banks. Watched a HUGE black snake sunning on a rock in the river and enjoyed Rory splashing in the shallows.
Great fun.
So Number One daughter tells me: "You know, I've been swimming in this river."
Me: "Oh, really, when?"
Number One: "A couple of times, once we found a spot with a rope swing and used it to swing out into the river."
Me: I don't ever remember giving permission for river swinging. "Oh."
Number One: "And then there was the time we decided we didn't want to pay the fee to get into the park so we swam in."
Me: "Huh? You swam into the park via the river?"
Number One: "Yeah, it was cool. We swam across the river almost right under the Ranger's noses. We had a great time."
She runs off with Rory, her little sister and her cousins.
You know, there is somethings that a mom just doesn't want to know, no matter how old your kid gets. Swimming the damn river to get into the State Park for free might be one of them.
Then again, I suppose knowing it after the fact is better than knowing it while it was happening. We've had enough kids drown in this river through the years, if I had known my oldest was playing Lewis and Clark sans boat, I might have had a coronary.
I'm just sayin'.
It is a gorgeous day, breezy enough to keep the bugs down and the path is an easy hike. We decide to walk across the Swinging Bridge that spans the Patapsco River. It used to really swing when I was a kid, we would grab a hold of the rope/hand rails and really get that swinging bridge swaying over the river. But it has since been replaced by a new Swinging Bridge, that although does not quite have the action of the old bridge, it is significantly safer.
Then we hike down to the river to watch the boys and my youngest nose around the rocky banks. Watched a HUGE black snake sunning on a rock in the river and enjoyed Rory splashing in the shallows.
Great fun.
So Number One daughter tells me: "You know, I've been swimming in this river."
Me: "Oh, really, when?"
Number One: "A couple of times, once we found a spot with a rope swing and used it to swing out into the river."
Me: I don't ever remember giving permission for river swinging. "Oh."
Number One: "And then there was the time we decided we didn't want to pay the fee to get into the park so we swam in."
Me: "Huh? You swam into the park via the river?"
Number One: "Yeah, it was cool. We swam across the river almost right under the Ranger's noses. We had a great time."
She runs off with Rory, her little sister and her cousins.
You know, there is somethings that a mom just doesn't want to know, no matter how old your kid gets. Swimming the damn river to get into the State Park for free might be one of them.
Then again, I suppose knowing it after the fact is better than knowing it while it was happening. We've had enough kids drown in this river through the years, if I had known my oldest was playing Lewis and Clark sans boat, I might have had a coronary.
I'm just sayin'.