Panic in the park.....

Daniel has worked most of the afternoon. He was only home about an hour between jobs. So the kiddos and I decided to get out of the house and head to the park. We grabbed Subway and headed to Avon Town Hall.


We ate by the water and enjoyed watching the fish jump.



We then decided to go to the play ground because Madelyn wanted to "sweem and slide".



Now the following face ought to be a clue as to how the day has gone. In fact, due to David's attitude this afternoon, we almost stayed home. He just was not being a very good listener today and was testing me to no end.



Here's where the panic part comes in. The following picture shows a very tall part of the play ground equipment. Well, my son climbed up and asked if he could slide down the fireman's pole. Well, #1 - It's at least 9 foot off the ground. #2 - To my knowledge, he's never done a fireman's pole before. #3 - I didn't want to make a trip to the E.R. So I said "No buddy, if you want to come down, please go down the slide or the stairs."

No sooner did those words of wisdom leave my mouth, he grabbed on and began to dangle. He could not get his feet back on the platform, he wouldn't let go, and I could not even reach the bottom of his shoes. I began to panic. If I tried to scramble to the top to grab him, I was afraid I would get about half way there, and he would decide to let go. If he dropped now, I wasn't sure I could catch him without us both tumbling to the ground. (Not good in my current condition). So I did what every respectable mother would do...... I yelled for help.
A nice man rushed over and tried to encourage him to let go. Did I mention he couldn't reach him either? David just dangled, too terrified to drop. After what seemed like an eternity, a nice woman appeared at the top and grabbed David and brought him safely back to the platform. I was about in tears. David headed straight to the slide and came down. I met him at the bottom with a lecture about listening and a hug. The tear on his cheek and the look in his eye told me that he was going to listen to Mom.........At least until the next time.