Chapter One: The Slide
There is a park I take Maddy and The Blitz to a lot. It has a huge field and a walking path that goes around the field and even some wild and unexplored jungles (OK...some GA woods in the middle of Acworth, but...). There is also a rather large jungle gym (or whatever they call them now...Activity Unit for the Age Challenged?) that has two slides. In order to get to the slides, one has to walk up some stairs, climb through a tube, and make a decision as to which slide to go on...a crossroad, if you will. Depending on your point of view, each slide has its challenges (I know, the picture does it no justice but the adrenaline has no choice but to flow).
The first slide (right) has a small twist in it that slows the "slider" slightly before the second
steep descent is taken. While it doesn't happen often, there are legends of two, three, and even a couple four year olds that try to take the curve too fast and end up with a wicked case of static cling that can take an excruciating 15 minutes to clear up. The second slide (left) is the real killer. It's a straight shot for 10, maybe even 15 feet shooting sliders down the slippery slope at a heart stopping one mile an hour. I've heard that one daredevil greased his pants and had the Acworth police clock him at 2.2 mph, but as of this report, the rumors are unsubstantiated.So, what does this have to do with Maddy, you might ask? Well, with Daddy's help, Maddy has been down both of these treacherous slopes, but she hasn't really had the opportunity to face the challenge alone. Recently, all three of us were at the park and Daddy had to make sure Blitz didn't eat any other small children or their parents, so Maddy had the run of the Jungle Gym. As she mounted the stairs for the first time, a chill ran down my spine. She didn't have a helmet or any of the padding one would normally expect with this kind of stunt, so I was understandably nervous. As she crawled through the tube (with a "Hi Daddy" at the end), the smallest bit of selfishness entered my brain. "Don't let her go to the slow slide," I thought, "She's fearless. She can take the speed." Well, as my beautiful baby turned to her left...to the slower, but yet still dangerous, bendy slide...I thought "Its OK. I love her unconditionally. She's just not ready for it yet."
And then...
Two steps toward the bendy slide, a turn of her head, a shift of her weight. Her head turned
toward me as if to say "I can DO it Daddy." It could have been a trick of the light or just a Daddy's faint hopes, but the sudden look of determination in her eyes almost scared me. Her radiant blue eyes took on a steely glint as she turned and looked to the challenge of the straight speedy slide. And then, with a determined gait, she took one, then another step toward her goal. The ultimate toddler challenge. As if time had sped up and forced her to accept her fate, she was suddenly at the precipice. "Don't look down," I thought, "You can make it if you...just...don't...look...down!"Her mount wasn't graceful...it was utilitarian...just what she needed to get her there, but not loose and floppy enough to get a deduction from the judges. Her little legs hung over the edge and her eyes said a soft goodbye to me before the focus returned.
And then she was gone...
I couldn't tell if it was two seconds or three seconds...an eternity, I know. The world just seemed to stop. And then with a laugh and a jump, her hair sticking up all the way, she was back. She had made it. No death and destruction. No mangled limbs. Just my little girl again in all her dirty, smiley, blue eyed cuteness. My little heroine.
Stay tuned for chapter two: The Dark. Coming soon!
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