06 June 2006

You can take the title of this blog literally...

...and float with me and my daughter on the creek that runs behind our house. today we walked up to the pocket park about four blocks away and put our innertube in and hopped in. brrr! my kid sat on my lap and enjoyed the ride. I used our pole to steer us away from branches and eddies. we floated downstream to the park a block from our house and did it again and again. what a gift not to have to pack up a car full of stuff and trek somewhere to get wet but just to be able to walk up the block and get in the water. it's only during the summer, but that's okay. otherwise the water would be too cold.

but I must say that the child who accompanied us on our last journey was rather, shall we say, manipulative. every advantage she saw, she pursued. she repeatedly tried to get us to slow down so she would be first (she was in the lead already the entire time on the water). she even set up some elaborate delaying system with some clothes and towels ahead of time. it was amazing to watch because you could see her setting it up so deliberately. I was glad I had set an expectation for one ride downstream together. I would have been carrying everything all the way if it had been up to her.

I'm such a tough mama. I got impatient with all this and raised my voice and then my daughter started talking to her the same way. when I heard her yelling I realized what I was doing and backed down quite a bit. I explained why I did not want child b to go get her other things and come back. and I insisted we go directly back to her house. I feel I must take a pretty firm stance with her, yet I expect she might even be one of those people who respects you if you do that, and if you expect a lot of her. at least I'd rather think so.

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