Building Fences

Do you think that if I stare aimlessly at this page the words will write themselves? I can only but try. It was a mysterious day today in that nothing really flowed. It felt rather spasmodic. I had great intentions for the day because Brandon wasn't at kindergarten so I was very excited about the 2 boys and I spending the day together. My initial plan today was to go to a giant Teddy Bears picnic with the kids in a nearby park. The 2 boys and I have been before and it's a great event. It's enormous with kids absolutely everywhere. However, when my husband rang very early this morning to see if I could drop some work things off to him at the job site, I changed my plan and thought the 2 boys and I could spend the day at the beach after we'd made our delivery. After all, it was right next to where my husband was working. But first though we were off to McDonald's to get some hotcakes for breakfast. Upon Brandon's request, at 7:30am the 2 boys and I drove down the road and picked up some McDonald's for breakfast. Now I have absolutely never done that with the kids before and I don't know what made Brandon suddenly think of making that suggestion as he doesn't even know they even make breakfast. Anyway, I thought that it would be a bit of an adventure for the kids so off we went.

Once we arrived back home, the 3 of us all sat down to gobble up the food. I was so busy watching and hoping that the food wasn't going to zap the kid's energy, because I had a fun filed day planned, that I failed to see myself go downhill from the food. It always does it to me which is why I never eat it but I was hungry and the idea of ready made pancakes sounded so appealing. As ridiculous as it sounds, I don't think that I ever completely regained my get up and go for the day after my breakfast.

We finally dropped off my husband's work supplies before then heading off to the beach. We had quite a lot of stuff with us because I had made a beautiful healthy morning tea and lunch packed for our picnic. We also had some toys for playing in the sand with, and Brandon and Bailey both had their surfboards. We played for awhile in the water and then climbed over all the big rocks before sitting down to have some morning tea. I thought, as the 2 boys sat quietly on the rug eating morning tea with me, that this was great. The 2 boys were sitting still and being so lovely and calm. That was the point where it all changed. Brandon and Bailey started rolling down a nearby grassy hill which would have been OK with me if they had of stayed rolling down the grassy hill. Bailey ran and ran and ran. He is like Forest Gump. He just keeps on running and running and running and never looks back. As a result I must say I am getting very good at running long distances and exceptionally good at running long distances in thongs. Today was special because I also unwittingly got to practice my sprinting. Any personal trainer would have been very proud of me.

Once I had caught Bailey and regained maybe a bit of my composure I decided that before everything went pear shaped I might call it a day with the kids at the beach. That grassy hill was back again in Brandon and Bailey's line of site and while I was furiously packing everything away like a made woman, everything unravelled. Brandon had discovered that along side that grassy hill was a very big dirt hill that made for an excellent slide on his bottom. The dirt hill was more like a cliff edge, just over dramatising but you get my drift, and so when I saw Brandon's eyes light up I was up that hill in record time. For someone that occasionally needs to wear glasses I was amazed that I saw that sparkle of mischief in his eyes. It must just be a parent thing. I won't call it a conversation because I was the only one talking, but my exact words to Brandon went like this "Brandon stop! It's too dangerous. Don't do it. Stop!" The outcome, as he ignored my warning, was incredibly predictable. I now had a 4 year old screaming in pain because he'd gone down that rocky hill and scrapped skin off his back and knees. Plus he was absolutely covered in prickles, and then Bailey ran again. There were no words possible to describe that moment. I rolled my eyes, fleetingly looked to the sky, scooped up a screaming Brandon and ran. I left all our stuff there at the beach and just ran.

Fast forward 25 minutes and I had kids strapped in the car, everything thrown in the boot, the air conditioner on and me. A sat in the car in silence as both boys were screaming around me about their pains to me. I didn't know whether I was angry, hot, exhausted, tired or furious or just everything. I love my boys but they pushed me today. Tomorrow I'm building a fence around my family.