Super Day

After arriving at the Oxnard house and greeting the usual suspects and some folks I don't get to see often enough, I mentioned my friend Claudine's directive to me. I was supposed to "have fun" and "blog about it later." We all agreed that having fun doesn't make much of a tale to tell (hence the need for conflict in our novels), and joked that something bad would have to happen to give me material.

Be careful what you wish for. Okay, no, I shouldn't sound so ominous. It wasn't that bad. She'll live, and not even be scarred.

The three kids who are normally at the house for football Sundays were joined yesterday by a couple more, the children of a guest who isn't usually there. I'm trying not to use names, to protect anyone who might not want to be mentioned in my public blog (not because they're hiding anything, but because I err on the side of over-protecting privacy). So, anyway, the kids were pumped up and running around with more gusto than care. Oh look, I'm already trying to blame the six year old. My bad.

I was standing with my back to the "circuit," which is the route through the kitchen, green room, entry way, living room, and dining room that the little ones run over and over, usually as they laugh or egg each on to "catch me, catch me," or something similar. In my defense there was no giggling, no taunting audible when it happened. I was standing near the dining room table, talking to  Kathy* and thinking, "Oh, how nice, someone brought broccoli," and I raised my left foot and moved it back. It's a habit of mine to stand with my weight on one leg and my other leg bent and my toes against the floor. It's hard to explain, both how it looks and why I do it. I simply always have, for as long as I can remember.

As I did this, at the exact moment that my foot went back just a little, Lexi* ran behind me. Yes, I tripped her. NOT ON PURPOSE. Can't stress that enough. She went down hard on the tile floor, banging her knee.  Kathy tried the usual "shake it off, you're okay" spiel, but my guilt and horror over what I'd done had me saying, "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry, are you alright?" with great concern in my voice. Naturally that made Lexi cry. To all you friends who always say I'd make a great mom -- maybe not. If I had looked at Kathy at that moment I'm sure she was rolling her eyes or showing contempt in some other way. The rule is to not coddle them or it makes it worse. So I tripped the child and failed to respond correctly. And I kept it up, too. Just kept apologizing and asking how she was -- I couldn't stop myself.

Kathy asked Lexi if she wanted to put ice on her knee and she said yes.   Kathy shot me a look that I'm pretty sure was meant to communicate, "Now look what you've done, she's going to milk this forever!" I would've bought Lexi a Carvel cake to hold on her knee if she asked for it, so the look didn't make me shut up. Poor Kathy had a sniveling child and a stupid friend to deal with, and she handled it in an unexpected way, I must say.

As she held the bag of ice to Lexi's knee she said, "Do you want me to beat Mary up?" That got both Lexi and me to sit up and take notice. "Do you think she tripped you on purpose? Is it that bad? Should I take her outside and beat her up good? Tell me now, and I'll do it," Kathy continued, as I said, "Nooooo, I don't like that idea at all. Lexi, it was an accident!"  Kathy was keeping a completely straight face (that's how I like to think about it, not that she could have been serious) and asked Lexi again, "Are you better now or should I hurt Mary?" Bless her little heart, Lexi said, "NO! I'm okay, it's better now, don't do that."

WHEW.

I'm sure Lexi felt even more loved, while I was a little leery of my good bud, Kathy. Was throwing me under the bus really the only way to handle the situation? When I hurt myself as a kid my mom would joke, "I can promise it'll be better before you're married." Boy, she had noooooo idea how far off that truly was.

The kids continued playing, Lexi seeming none the worse for having taken a tumble and being required to determine my fate, and the day continued in a happy, boring-to-blog-about way.

Then the stupid Lost Boys (AKA the NY Giants, who have played in New Jersey for a couple of decades but refuse to change their name) came back and won the Superbowl, which annoyed me so much I can't even put a humorous spin on it.

We watched Shrek Forever After (supposedly for the kids, but we all laughed, too), then after a long, enjoyable day spent with friends, I drove home under a nearly full moon. It really did feel like too much fun to blog about without putting anyone who's reading to sleep. 

*Ironically, since I originally posted that I was not naming names and wanted to err on the side of protecting privacy, I've had to go back and edit this old post and change more names.  Seems "Kathy" considers being named in my blog as no different from sharing a photograph without permission.