Britt tells his tale...

In his words:
on the phone with Uncle Jordan


Now my words:
We were in Justin's Mom and Dad's backyard when we saw his uncle coming in from a ride on his horse. (Justin's folks share a HUGE backyard with his Grandma and two of his Dad's siblings. It's about a third grass and the rest is garden and dirt.) Anyway, Britt ran over to say hello. We visited and the kids pet the horse for a few minutes, then Britt climbed into the saddle to ride the 50 feet to the horse's pen. After just a few steps, something stuck up out of the dirt and hooked around the horse's foot. He started bucking to get it off (this is the point at which Britt's hair went UUUUP and DOOOWN) He held on really good, but at the end of the bucking, the horse did a little spin and that's when he was thrown off. I couldn't see how he landed, so those 4 or 5 seconds that it took me to get to him were the scariest of my entire life. (You never think things like that are going to happen to your own kids...) I had a pants-less and shoe-less Marnie in my arms, so I had a hard time picking him up. Justin's uncle tied the horse up and we got Britt back to the grass to make sure he was okay. My fears were eased when I asked him where it hurt and he replied, "my shoes fell off, did my Spider-man band-aid come off my toe?!?" {ah, relief, it hadn't} He got a few very small scrapes and a sore noggin, but other than that, he's perfectly fine. Grandpa Kenny (who is an RN) checked him from head to toe while Justin told him the story of when HE was young and got bucked off of a horse, and that helped Britt realize that it's kind of a rite of passage. He was still a little shaken-up, but after a phone call to tell Granny and Grandpa all about it, he was back his normal happy self.
I've gone over and over all the horrible things that could have happened, and it just about kills me each time. I kept thinking about when we were walking out of the backdoor and Justin joked, "don't let it kick you or anything." Well...technically he listened, it didn't kick him. :) I thought about the stupid things I had gotten upset at Britt for that day (painting his sister's pants, not putting his pajamas away, playing in the sink when he told me he was getting a drink...). All those things seem SO pointless and miniscule when you realize how fragile life is and how quickly things can change. The day could have had a much more grim ending, but it didn't. As scary as it was, I think it was a blessing to me, because it reminded me that we have no idea how long we'll be able to love our little ones. It could all change in an instant. It's made me realize that when all is said and done, I just want to know that I was the best mom I could be, and that my kids were told and showed constantly how much I love them. I think that's what I'm going to think about all day this Mother's Day... just how grateful I am to have my sweet, happy, beautiful, smart, healthy, funny, little ones.