PROMPT: Fun Fact Friday! Franklin's quote," In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." What do you think about that? Are there any other certainties in life? Well, if you're a parent the Murphy's Law; " anything that can go wrong, will go wrong", Is a definite certainty! My eight-year old son was once the unwilling captive of an army tank. Somehow, he managed to wedge an arm inside of the tank, in a hole that was there and so, irresistible. This should have been an impossibility or at the very least an improbability, but it did happen. Not that there is a manual for child-rearing, but if it did exist I don't believe this scenario would be listed. Ours needed its own chapter. I'll concede that being curious and exploring the tank was a certainty. I'll agree that 'accidents' happen. I just have trouble accepting that my son was stuck and it took several off-duty firemen to rescue him. I discovered that day just how claustrophobic it is in a tank, especially when shoulder to shoulder, cheek to cheek, ( both sets), with sweating strangers smeared with cooking oil and dish soap. After too many frustrating, anxious hours, Chris was finally freed by a doctor who dislocated his arm. We emerged to a cheering crowd circling yellow 'Do Not Cross' tape, fire trucks, police cars and officers, radio static, a waiting ambulance with strobing lights, and Chris' two frightened sisters. Long story short, he experienced his first of many ambulance rides that day and he learned he didn't like a lot of attention. I learned I could endure anything for my kids. Chris and his siblings have lived to injure themselves another day, too many times. Friday the 13th is another certainty. I'm not saying it's a day of mishaps, but it will always re-occur. Okay, the passing of time is a certainty. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years accumulate. Our perceptions vary; sometimes, time is so slow and excruciating, other times it whizzes by. If we live, we continually age; we cannot avoid this. If we have offspring, they kindly remind us of our dotage. Speaking of kids, I'd reckon there will always be know-it-alls who are frustrated with their out-of-touch-with-the-real-world parents. Cocky kids question everything. They fail to comprehend that Mom and Dad were once younger, and they did-all-that, maybe more. I'm certain that with maturity they will accept this. I'm still waiting for 'Hell to freeze over' and for 'pigs to fly'. I certainly witnessed my mother's anger, but I never saw her angry enough "to spit nails". I sincerely hope I was not "the death of her". Aahh, there are still plenty of uncertainties. This is the way life should be! |