On a Lighter Note

April 22, 2010

So it's Earth day, and I did nothing Earth Day-ish except make a loaf of bread. We've just about given up store-bought bread around here.
Today, though, I am considering how very different each person is. Tonight, we took the kids to the Dogwood Festival, a local event that includes a bunch of carnival rides, which the kids absolutely love. There's the Ferris wheel, the Magic Carpet ride, the Rainbow, the Zipper, the flying swings, the Cliff-Hanger. It's goes on and on.
I only have two kids and they are wildly different. Joey rode every single ride offered, even the Zipper. Olivia rode the tame rides and had a blast. The look of joy on both of their faces as they raced this way and that with the wind blowing their hair back. . . .Well, that look is what parents live for, I think.
Joey doesn't care how high he goes or how fast. Olivia has a definite limit. If it goes high and fast, it is off the list! But Olivia is the one who talked a games person into letting her play a game for $2 instead of $3. She is the one who won a stuffed dog, named Dogwood, to bring home from the fair. And my husband is the one who rides motorcycles and insisted that Joey ride every ride he wanted. After all, he had an all-night wristband. It was a lot of fun. I'm grateful to the grandparents who send a monthly allowance to the kids. They used their Baboo (grandfather) money for the festival and had a great time.
I'm also grateful for the differences in people and for the flexibility in families to let each person just be.