He did it. Eli biked all the way around the block, starting on his own and with no stops, fulfilling his end of a bargain that earned him a new Slip'n'Slide. He would have done it two tries before, but the first time Curtis somewhat disgustedly reported, "He got distracted by the Nerf Reactor on Ryder's grass and had to stop!" And the second time he got distracted by trying to yell backwards at Gideon who was following him, got off balance and stopped again. But the THIRD time we told him to FOCUS and he made it!
That afternoon, as an overcast sky brought lower temperatures and small gusts of wind, we started to set up his new Slip'n'Slide. As fate would have it, the 90 degree weather we had three days ago was unseasonably warm and the 70's we have now are more normal for this time of year. I gently suggested it might be too cold. Eli's response, "It feels hot to me Mom!" I couldn't talk him out of it. I turned on the hose and saw him behold the water cascading in artistic arches over the ribbon of yellow plastic with an ecstatic smile on his face. After a few minutes I asked him, "Aren't you going to try it out?" Silence. Finally, "It looks pretty wet." "It's supposed to be wet," I encouraged. "Go get your swim suit on and try it out!"
I left it at that and went in the house to find his suit. With suit on I sent him out again. The next time I went to check on him, he was standing alone on the grass, wet and shivering. I asked him to show me how it worked. He executed a tentative tippy toe run toward it, then flung his body forward and stopped in the spray, jumping out as fast as he could. He looked at me and proclaimed, "I don't like Slip'n'Slides mom."
Later I saw Curtis braving the frigid temperatures to try out the marvel of watery fun. I'm pretty sure Curtis was the one who told Eli that Slip 'n' Slides were awesome! He thoroughly enjoyed all three minutes that he played on it, then he was undone by the chattering and grabbed his towel.
As I reflect on this little slice of Eli's life, I am satisfied that the means justified the ends. Now Eli wakes up at 7 a.m. fully ready to jump on his bike and ride. He's a little speed demon and getting lots of wholesome fresh air and exercise. That is worth the price of a Slip'n'Slide every time.
1 comment:
I'm with Eli on the whole Slip n Slide thing--too cold, especially at that temperature! But he can look at it like a trophy for his biking accomplishment. You don't really play with those either!
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