When I awoke at 7:30 am (which is extremely late for me) there was no stirring noise coming from Bel's bedroom and no whining cat calls from my two aging felines who obnoxiously need fed everyday before 6 am. No sounds at all. This immediately got my adrenaline pumping because I believed that something MUST be wrong or....someone was up to something (i.e. my daughter). I quickly got dressed and rushed over to her bedroom.
To my surprise she was behaving very well. She had feverishly consumed two books and was now applying her skills at operating the Kindle and watching a kid's science-based cartoon about pollution and saving the oceans. I know, I know. It seems insane but this is a normal morning operation. A knowledge download activity via old-school paper things that contain information in their bulky bindings (which her mother has successfully ingrained into her) and the kiddo's favorite digital learning device (that we do regulate).
Discussion:
Bel - 'Good morning, Dad.'
Me - 'Good morning, honey. What'cha watching?'
Bel - 'Octanauts. They are helping the crabs with their water. It's DIRTY!.'
Me - 'Okay. Do you want some breakfast?'
Bel - 'Yes. Hey, Dad....what day is it?'
Me - 'It is Saturday.'
Bel - 'SATURDAY!! I get to feed and ride with the horses!! Can we leave now?'
Me - 'No, honey. Your mother is still sleeping. In a little while. What do you want for breakfast?'
Saturday mornings are always filled with joy for me. There is a sense of relief from the week with no worries and a limited schedule to follow for the entire day. Of course, my job is to make breakfast that day. Most of the time the menu I prepare causes small people, such as my daughter, to go into a food coma soon after completing her meal. On this day the majority of our daily calories are ingested in the morning from my Golden Corral-like style of breakfast buffet. I love Saturdays.
Packed up with everything that you could need to survive for about 4 days, we left the house a few hours later and drove about 3.6 miles to our destination. I am REALLY glad that we packed the portable adorable frog potty and 8700 calories of food in the cooler just in case we got stranded somewhere between the Starbucks and the horse farm on the way. I could definitely use a bathroom break along the way during the long journey. That frog potty will come in handy!
We drove up the long driveway of the horse farm and stopped intermittently along the way greeting each of the six horses in the field next to us. I rolled down the window and Bel was able to say hello to each of the horses. Each horse had a coat on since it was cold that morning and they were eating from their buckets that were attached to the tall black derby fence.
Annabel got out of the car and raced up to the fence and was ready to ride. This kid has barely seen a horse up close before, but she seemed fearless and kinda knew what she was doing. We greeted the trainer and she was extremely happy to meet a 3 1/2 year old who had 2 lbs of carrots and an apple for the horses. 'You come prepared! The pony that you'll be riding today is named, 'Sugar'. Do you want to meet her?' Bel bounced up and down with a smile and said, 'Yes. I have carrots!'
The trainer saddled the pony as my daughter fed the long blonde haired animal 12 organic carrots and a Fuji apple. All I could think is that Sugar was going to have a bowel movement in the middle of the lesson and my child would continually associate that when you ride a pony it poops. Well, that really isn't that far from the truth. Maybe she'll miss observing the bowel movement.
Once Sugar was ready, my wife lifted Bel onto the pony and with the guidance of the trainer my daughter was riding.
She rode with the confidence of an experienced rider. There was a sense of calm about her on that pony. A stillness that emerged just as quick as lightning and almost enveloped us with enough calm that we could have sat down on lawn chairs and sipped cocktails. My wife and I stared and smiled that whole time and resisted worrying about her on the pony. She was in good hands with the trainer and the 'carrot mongrel' didn't seem to be in any gastrointestinal distress. My daughter seemed at complete ease even though she was now twice as tall as she had been 5 minutes ago.
We resisted the parental urge to stand next to her with our hand on her back or walk beside her while holding her arm. Nope.... we just smiled with pride and realized that our kid is herself, a person. A person with thoughts, dreams, and an independent streak that some kids don't break into until they are in their teenage years. I'm not saying she'll be walking down the street and grabbing a Slim Jim at the local convenience store by herself tomorrow, but I am saying that I had a glimpse of my daughter being herself without our help. Frankly, it made me happy and sad at the same time. My girl IS going to grow up whether we like it or not. And, I want to be there every step of the way even if I'm watching from the sidelines.
To my surprise she was behaving very well. She had feverishly consumed two books and was now applying her skills at operating the Kindle and watching a kid's science-based cartoon about pollution and saving the oceans. I know, I know. It seems insane but this is a normal morning operation. A knowledge download activity via old-school paper things that contain information in their bulky bindings (which her mother has successfully ingrained into her) and the kiddo's favorite digital learning device (that we do regulate).
Discussion:
Bel - 'Good morning, Dad.'
Me - 'Good morning, honey. What'cha watching?'
Bel - 'Octanauts. They are helping the crabs with their water. It's DIRTY!.'
Me - 'Okay. Do you want some breakfast?'
Bel - 'Yes. Hey, Dad....what day is it?'
Me - 'It is Saturday.'
Bel - 'SATURDAY!! I get to feed and ride with the horses!! Can we leave now?'
Me - 'No, honey. Your mother is still sleeping. In a little while. What do you want for breakfast?'
Saturday mornings are always filled with joy for me. There is a sense of relief from the week with no worries and a limited schedule to follow for the entire day. Of course, my job is to make breakfast that day. Most of the time the menu I prepare causes small people, such as my daughter, to go into a food coma soon after completing her meal. On this day the majority of our daily calories are ingested in the morning from my Golden Corral-like style of breakfast buffet. I love Saturdays.
Packed up with everything that you could need to survive for about 4 days, we left the house a few hours later and drove about 3.6 miles to our destination. I am REALLY glad that we packed the portable adorable frog potty and 8700 calories of food in the cooler just in case we got stranded somewhere between the Starbucks and the horse farm on the way. I could definitely use a bathroom break along the way during the long journey. That frog potty will come in handy!
We drove up the long driveway of the horse farm and stopped intermittently along the way greeting each of the six horses in the field next to us. I rolled down the window and Bel was able to say hello to each of the horses. Each horse had a coat on since it was cold that morning and they were eating from their buckets that were attached to the tall black derby fence.
Annabel got out of the car and raced up to the fence and was ready to ride. This kid has barely seen a horse up close before, but she seemed fearless and kinda knew what she was doing. We greeted the trainer and she was extremely happy to meet a 3 1/2 year old who had 2 lbs of carrots and an apple for the horses. 'You come prepared! The pony that you'll be riding today is named, 'Sugar'. Do you want to meet her?' Bel bounced up and down with a smile and said, 'Yes. I have carrots!'
The trainer saddled the pony as my daughter fed the long blonde haired animal 12 organic carrots and a Fuji apple. All I could think is that Sugar was going to have a bowel movement in the middle of the lesson and my child would continually associate that when you ride a pony it poops. Well, that really isn't that far from the truth. Maybe she'll miss observing the bowel movement.
Once Sugar was ready, my wife lifted Bel onto the pony and with the guidance of the trainer my daughter was riding.
She rode with the confidence of an experienced rider. There was a sense of calm about her on that pony. A stillness that emerged just as quick as lightning and almost enveloped us with enough calm that we could have sat down on lawn chairs and sipped cocktails. My wife and I stared and smiled that whole time and resisted worrying about her on the pony. She was in good hands with the trainer and the 'carrot mongrel' didn't seem to be in any gastrointestinal distress. My daughter seemed at complete ease even though she was now twice as tall as she had been 5 minutes ago.
We resisted the parental urge to stand next to her with our hand on her back or walk beside her while holding her arm. Nope.... we just smiled with pride and realized that our kid is herself, a person. A person with thoughts, dreams, and an independent streak that some kids don't break into until they are in their teenage years. I'm not saying she'll be walking down the street and grabbing a Slim Jim at the local convenience store by herself tomorrow, but I am saying that I had a glimpse of my daughter being herself without our help. Frankly, it made me happy and sad at the same time. My girl IS going to grow up whether we like it or not. And, I want to be there every step of the way even if I'm watching from the sidelines.
Just a happy little girl riding a pony. And, one proud Papa.
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