Oxymoron


Yesterday my dad, Mason, Lex, and Lily hiked up the “Y” here in Provo, UT. It is actually quite a steep little climb, but not too long. It was extra special to have my dad there with us. He helped Mason make trail mix and we all wore a whistle after learning about hikes in the Cub Scout Bear Handbook. With every step we were thinking about how fun it was going to be coming down. The view of Provo was awesome once we reached the top and I was a proud mamma/daughter of my little children and dad. We passed college age guys who were even wondering “how much farther?”. By the way, Lily climbed this one for her dad. She is very excited to tell him that she did it all by herself. Last year she climbed it with Stephen and he had to carry her a little.

We had a great climb with minimal complaints and on the way down I set a goal for myself to be down by 3:00. I began running with Lily and Lex. Well, while Lexi was picking up momentum she must have swung her arms out and accidently hit Lily. Lily was not happy, she thought Alexis purposely hit her and began having a serious melt down. This happened at 2:55 and we still had a ways to get to the bottom. I tried to be nice and rationalize with her for a few minutes to no avail. I explained my goal and tried to distract her into the same goal. She wasn’t buying it. I then said, “If you can’t get in control you can wait here by the side of the road for Grandpa and Mason.” The tantrum escalated and she ran after me, still crying loudly.

Then, it happened. I lost control (10 days without dad around can do that to a mother with five children). As I was running down the mountain, I kicked Lily’s rear of steel with my left foot. It hurt, but I kept on running and yes I made my 3:00 goal. She kept on crying until we reached the car and then Grandma and cousins helped her forget about her recent woes. When I stopped running, I noticed that the toe next to my big one hurt even more and coninued to keep throbbing worse as the night progressed.

I think it is broken or at least severely sprained. Now everytime I take a step I get to remind myself to be more patient. As for Lily, apparently it didn’t leave a mark on her, because I asked how her bumb was and she looked at me with a puzzled look. I guess it was my turn to learn a lesson.

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