Wednesday was the boys’ last day of snowboarding this season. We made the decision to make the trip as a family as I really wanted to see where they have been going these past two months, and I honestly just wasn’t in the mood to be left at home. I am so glad that I went. Larkspur, Beatrix, Trudy, and I hung out on the playground for a couple of hours while the boys snowboarded before meeting back up to eat dinner and use the free passes we had for the tubing park. Tubing is something new to me, and just in case you haven’t seen or heard of it before, it involves riding an escalator type conveyor belt up a slope on the mountain, and then sliding back down a snowy slope in an inner tube. Larkspur is tall enough for this park, and the plan was to let her go with the boys, while Jonny, Beatrix, and I waited at the bottom of the slope.
But, after reading all the warning signs placed everywhere for liability, signs that mentioned the possibility of death by tubing, and seeing just how high that tubing hill was, I started to get really nervous. Jonny helped the kids grab tubes, told the boys to watch out for Larkspur and then sent them all on their way. While I am actually not a nervous mom (stop kidding yourself, Ginny), something about this terrified me. I feel fairly brave when it comes to my boys, but this was my first time letting Larkspur do something like this.
“Wait a minute!” I cried. “You can’t just send her up that huge hill all by herself-you have to go with her! She’s going to be terrified–this can’t be right!” Seriously, I wondered how they could let small children do this! Jonny gave me a look (possibly a please calm down and don’t freak out look), and walked over to the entrance to the conveyor belt to see what he could do. He came back telling me that only people with tickets could go up the mountain.
I really started to feel panicked and explained to Jonny, because clearly he wasn’t thinking straight, that Larkspur is very young and very small and that she was going to reach the top of that giant hill, look down, and start to cry, and we couldn’t expect the boys to be able to handle that.
Meanwhile, Seth, the brother who has been labeled “the meanest” by Larkspur, took care of her on that mountain and even insisted that she ride in a tube attached to his every single run down the slope. He willingly dragged her tube for her at the bottom of the hill every single time without being asked to. It was such a relief to see her riding with him rather than alone. The first time she and Seth came flying down that hill I anxiously watched to see the expression on her face, afraid she would be marked with fear, but actually she was all smiles and gave a big wave as soon as she spotted me. Later, I asked Seth if Lark was ever scared, or if she cried at all. “Yeah, she cried a little when I told her she couldn’t ride in a tube by herself.” I guess I have to admit that she isn’t so little anymore, and clearly Seth is doing some growing up as well.
I don’t feel silly for worrying, just glad that I did let her go despite my fears.
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