Puddle Jumpin'

My kids LOVE puddles after it rains.  And, I must confess, so do I! The Louisiana neighborhood I grew up in had great "drainage" curbs that led to the sewer holes, and we'd have fabulous puddles to stomp in all the way down the street.  Here, the hills and curves in the roads (and potholes in parking lots!) make some great places for puddle jumping.  

I have a bad feeling that one of these days I'm going to see the front page of the paper and my picture is going to be on there with the headline, "Crazy Puddle Jumper Frightens Grocery Shoppers," or something like that.  Grocery stores seem to have the best puddles, and my kids and I just can't resist them.   I'm pretty sure that I am recorded on the security footage for every parking lot in town, jumping in puddles with my children with reckless abandon.   I even asked for rain boots for Christmas (Thanks, Mom and Dad!), just for the purpose of jumping in puddles in the parking lot beside the library!  Most times I'm splashing as hard as the kids, which leads to some very strange looks from other pedestrians.  When my kids were tiny, most people looked at me rather indulgently, with an "Oh, how sweet" kind of look.  Now that my kids are older (4 and 6)  it's more of a "What is WRONG with that lady?" kind of look!  Sometimes I briefly fight that feeling of insecurity that comes when you KNOW someone thinks you've lost it, but most days I just give in and splash.

Today was such a day.  My son and I had to stop at the store for some fruit and veggies, and he was smart enough to wear his rain boots.  So, after we put the groceries up, off we went to find the best and biggest puddles to see if we could soak each other.  Hand in hand, we stomped with both feet into the biggest puddles, and as the cold water splashed up on us, we caught our breath, shivered, and raced off to the next puddle.  I was not fortunate enough to have remembered MY boots, so before long, my feet were soaked and freezing.  However, we jumped until we were out of breath and soaked from the knees down, and then we headed off to the car.  Looking around, I noticed several people watching me with strange looks. Self-consciously, I looked down at my 4 year old son, his hand in mine, and saw the biggest grin I've seen in weeks.   Beaming, he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, thank you!  I love you!  That was SOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!!!"    Let me tell you, that was worth the wet, soggy shoes and muddy jeans.  Fellow shoppers, stare away.  The only stare that matters is the happy one from my precious, muddy little boy.