Rule #234 - No Carnival Rides

Anyone who knew the Creech girls in Meridian, knew we had a lot of rules. Maybe more rules than any of the other kids in town. Rodney gets cracked up because I will just randomly blurt out, "We weren't allowed to do that!" when I see something that reminds me of one of our many rules.

I often find myself passing on some of these same rules to my son...BUT I also find myself letting my son break a few of these rules (with Rodney's coercion, of course).

Our most recent rule-breaking--we let Clinton ride the Carnival Rides at the fair last weekend. Gasp! I still haven't told my dad, but he's sure to see this and let me know what he thinks about it. Eeek. His logic, which I concur with, is that they are temporary and it only takes someone forgetting one step in the process for things to turn catastrophic. They also ware down easily and quickly because they are taken down and put up over and over and not well cared for, in many cases.

In my defense, Clinton only got to ride the little kiddie rides which are very close to the ground. I didn't want to go at first because I wasn't sure what we would do at the fair since I wasn't going to let Clinton ride the rides. But Rodney convinced me it would be okay for him to ride the baby rides. (Dad, you can call Rodney with your lecture!)

He had such a great time! We had to ride a couple of them with him at first, but it wasn't long before he was a master! I was so glad to see how much he loved it! I'm a roller coaster girl myself and was hoping some Disney or Six Flags trips might be in our future...and it looks like they will! I've never been to Disney (we grew up at Six Flags Over Texas) but I've been dreaming of my first Disney vacay! I can't wait to meet Cinderella and go to the castle! I wonder how many other twenty-somethings are chasing Cinderella down in the park?

...but back to the county fair. Below are the pictures of our little adventure.

Rides, rides, and more rides!!





One perfectly behaved little sister who didn't make a peep for three hours! She was so excited about all the activity around her and her toes, she just sat and kicked her arms and legs and played with her toes the whole time we were there! She also was the recipient of rave reviews regarding her precious face and ginormous hair bow!



A close up of a cow. I called it a bull and Clinton told me, "No! Cow!"


Clinton went through the Farmer's Market which was really cute. The kids went through different areas collecting things a farmer would collect on the farm. When they filled their basket with all the goodies (i.e. eggs, apples, vegetables, milk), they took it to the farmer's maret and sorted it and got paid. They could then take their "money" and buy an ice cream. So cute! Although, Clinton was a little perturbed that the eggs wouldn't crack, the apples weren't real, and the milk cartons were empty! But he LOVED his ice cream!




This boy loves his tractors!



Me and my kiddos.


Oh, and we had to wait until after dark! Clinton still can't be in a lot of direct sunlight because of his medication and we prefer cooler weather. We were there from 8-11 at night. Our kids are natural night owls!

Having fun (with and without rules),

Running Away from Home

Clinton is strong willed. Very strong willed. To say the least.

I appreciate how this quality may serve him well in the future, but I'm struggling as a mother as I try to teach him when and where this is appropriate. He has yet to realize it is not appropriate when playing outside near the street.

He is determined to play in the street, which would be fine if he would stay in our cul-de-sac. But he wants to head out the other direction and take off. So, I'm determined to keep him in the driveway or on the sidewalk. The battle lines are clearly drawn.

I, too, am strong willed. Anyone who may have been gazing out their window yesterday got to witness a war of wills for the record books. There was a lot of raised-voice-instruction, back-breaking lifting of a monster truck with a 2 year old in tow, and some kicking and screaming (by Clinton...and as much as I wanted to I was able to refrain).

I was hoping to take advantage of our perfect picture taking weather and get some cute shots of the kids. Seeing as I was running back and forth between the kids, the cute pics were limited...but a story unfolded.

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"Clinton, we're not going in the street, okay? You can ride right here in the driveway or on the sidewalk, but no street, okay?

Okay? Clinton are you listening?"

No response.

"Mom, I don't think he's listening. I'm just sayin'."


"Clinton, you need to stay away from the street. No street, okay?"

"Kay."

He agreed, but it lacked sincerity.


What followed were multiple attempts by Clinton to ride free in the streets. The mommy girl would herd him back, carry him back, or lure him back with threats of going to his room.

She thought she had finally gotten through to him, he WAS staying on the sidewalk, but...

"Oh no, mom! I think brudder is running away!"


"Clinton, come back here. Clinton, you need to turn around. Clinton, get back here now."

No response. Forward motion continuing.

"Clinton, now! You're going to go to your room."

He stopped but only long enough to look back and see how serious the mommy girl really was with her threats. Then he was off again.

"CLINTOOOOOOOOOON!!!" A few snappity snaps of the camera, and the mommy girl was off to retrieve sweet Clinton from the dangers lurking at the end of the street.

After giving the boy a stern talking to, the mommy girl turned the truck around and Clinton headed back to his home sweet home.


However, as he got closer to his house he was feeling defeated. "I must get to the street," he thought, "this mommy lady can't hold me back forever." Really? Want to bet on it, son?

As he approached the driveway he veered left to make his great escape onto the much desired pavement.

"Clinton, that's it! You'll go to your room!" He heard the mommy girl's footsteps nearing the truck.

"I'll show her," he thought. "She can only punish me if I get in the street."

He slowed the truck down and parked it here.

The mommy girl was exasperated. She couldn't punish him because he wasn't in the street, but boy, was he pushing her buttons!

Now on foot, Clinton happily watched the mommy girl's face with a smirk. He had a small victory under his belt. But he just couldn't help himself.

As he and the mommy girl locked eyes, both standing their ground, he eased closer and closer to the street. He could see smoke starting to come out of her ears. "Well, that's pretty cool. Let's see what happens if I touch the street."

With laughter, he quickly turned and darted out into the street. "I think I just heard her head explode! Ha ha ha ha!"

The mommy girl sprinted out, scooped up the boy and carried him straight to his room.

"We do NOT play in the street!!" She shut the door and her heart broke as the little boy fell into a sobbing heap on the floor.

Not 60 seconds later the mommy girl returned to check on her little delinquent and could hear laughter and "Jump! Jump!" coming from Clinton's room. She opened the door to find he had thrown the clean laundry and pillows onto the floor, pulled the covers back and was using his bed as a trampoline.

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart she shut the door and headed to the kitchen. As much as the bottle of Shiraz on the counter was calling her name, she opted for a glass of iced water and an oatmeal cream pie to help calm her nerves. "Maybe tomorrow," she thought, "Maybe tomorrow will be better."

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Surviving the everyday drama,