Skip to main content

My Katie, 3 Fire Trucks and A Swing

Taking part in Mama Kat's (pretty much world famous) Writer's Workshop.

My writing prompt:  A Time Somebody Got Stuck.
 Every once in a while, on our drive home, my 15 yrs. old will let out a heavy sigh and say "Oh man".  She does this at a certain location on our drive, a very specific spot, that will go down in our family history as one of the craziest experiences we've had.   Ah, my young Katie, the days were never dull with you!

*wavy memory hands* wavy memory hands*

It didn't take long for Katie to get herself into a situation while we were playing in the park . You see Katie has always been tall for her age and she isn't always cool with it, especially not at 7 years old. So while I was playing with Lily, her 4 year old sister, Katie was trying to fit herself into a toddler swing. A small, rubber-bucket-with-leg-holes-just-right-for-a-7-month-old-NOT-a-7-year-old.  (*Inner thoughts; "Did mom tell me no?  Um, yeah, probably.  She does that a lot.  But I wanna do this so... yeah, let's do this!*)


I hear "Mom! Help! I can't get my legs out!!!" I turn to see my girl trying desperately to lift herself from the rubber diaper. When I get a closer look I see that her little legs are in those sockets good and tight. I try to lift her but it doesn't work. She's in pain and I'm trying not to panic. 

For some reason, I don't know why, I called my husband at work. As if he had some magic potion to fix this.  (This was in the days before iPhones, maybe they have an app for it now.)  I think I just wanted him to be a part of this crazy situation too so he got in his car and arrived at the park with a screwdriver. (Male thought process: "A tool. Something is stuck, I must bring a tool!" I don't know.)

Rob can't get her out of the swing either. He concludes her ultra light weight cotton pants are putting enormous pressure on the situation so he has Katie tuck them up as high as she can on her leg. Now we really see her legs and how they are swelling. Time to call 911.

When the first fire truck (did you catch that?  First truck) arrives they stifle their laughter at the sweet little girl who appears to be wearing a large rubber diaper while being suspended from heavy metal chains. While doing our best to keep Katie calm and her mind on all of her favorite things, we notice her little sister has discovered a new game; rolling around in a pile of dry leaves then picking every last bit of debris from her fleece coat. Hours of fun for this little girl!  I thank God every day for her easy going ways and tolerance for lack of attention.

The first fire truck doesn't have the right tools and neither does the second fire truck. When the 3rd fire truck arrives the local college track team joins the party and gets into a stretching session at the park.  Cars have started to slow down, some park, and the crowd grows.  Oh good! An audience!

Katie was cut down from the swing and carried to a bench. She seemed to resign herself to her situation and folds her arms leisurely behind her head and did some cloud watching. While a team of Fire Fighters scratched their heads and tried to come up with a plan my Katie was trying to find shapes in clouds and my Lily was on her 8th round of rolling in the leaves. This was not my best day as a Mom.

With snips of a bolt cutter, and lots of salve applied to her legs, the swing finally released it's grip. The Captain in charge handed us the mangled rubber swing and said "Do you want to keep this?" For some strange reason we did. We needed physical proof of what brought 3 teams of Fire Fighters to their knees and 1 family a story that will go down in our history.


So, how about you?  Any fun times at the park? :->

If you participate in Mama's Kat's (pretty much world famous) Writer's Workshop let me know!


Mama’s Losin’ It

Popular posts from this blog

Miss Poodle Perm, That's Me!

Jill of Scary Mommy is doing a linky post about school pictures. You know the ones, possibly you didn't smile a sweet smile, just the smirk of panic. Or you didn't know it was picture day because you had been out sick for a week and you show up in your most comfortable shirt and bed-head. (Yep. That happened to me. The smile was good though!) Well, my scanner isn't working or else I would post a particular picture from Freshman year. Since I don't have a visual, here's the story: I remember my first day of High School. Actually what I remember is the picture taken of me leaving for my first day of High School. I'm wearing a brave smile, but the hair, the hair , my hair style was a nightmare. My two best friends and I were going to be attending a High School out of our district. That was stressful enough. To add to this new-ness we wanted new looks as well. K. was going to sport the Argyle and Alligator shirt look. W. was going for 'All Monogram

This Is Quite The Blog Party! Add Your Blog To Turn It Up Tuesday!

Ever dream of having a day when you receive breakfast in bed, not one lick of housework is done - by you! - and the weather matches the mood of the day, which is 'lovely'.  Well, I had such a day on Mother's Day and I am so grateful to my family.  ( Could we do it again soon?  I vote 'yes! ')  How was your weekend?  Do tell.  I'm so happy to be a guest host for the blog hop Turn It Up Tuesday.  Add your blog link and meet some terrific Bloggers! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Mother's Day!!!! What did you moms out there do today? We'd love to hear it! Share it here on Turn It Up Tuesday! Welcome to the 34th week of Turn It Up Tuesday! Thanks so much to everyone that joins us each week and makes this blog hop the best that it could be! As you may know, Turn It Up Tuesdays is all about being happy, excited, energetic...and having fun! Link up your favorite posts and meet some awesome b

My Questions Answered By Chef Pati Jinich - Video

Rob and I have been focusing on finding foods and spices that will help us take some weight off.  I've been slightly obsessed with staying on my exercise track (on week 8 now :->) and hope to get rid of this jiggly belly that has become wa-a-a-ay too comfortable on my body.  The older you get the harder it is to lose weight.  What I would say to my 40 year old self - 'See that pouch starting?  Do your crunches and planks now!  7 years from now it's going to get ugly !' I've found that spices cumin, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and turmeric are noted to increase metabolism.  ( Yes please !)  After a good workout coconut water is more beneficial in regulating your electrolytes, and lower in calories, than sports drinks.  It also contains more potassium than other drinks which is an important component in helping to build muscle which, in turn, helps you burn more calories. And my most surprising discovery - eating avocados help burn belly fat! I&#