Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Playing Hooky

Yesterday I had another gift from Diana. She was trying to convince me all weekend to let her engage in the second Senior Skip Day of the school year. Mainly the kids are protesting several decisions of the administration by staying home. Diana has had a number of illness related absences this year so I was more than a tad reluctant. Finally, she looked at me and said, "Listen, Mom. I don't want to bag school so I can hang out with my friends. I want to hang out with you and do something together because with me going to college I don't know if I will be around for Mother's Day next year with it being the beginning of Finals week and all." Gulp, ok. How could I possibly say no to that?

When she woke up in the morning she announced she had $30 she intended to blow on the day for us. She asked if I wanted to go bowling, mini golfing, to the movies, out to lunch, or for a hike. We decided to catch the matinee of X-Men Origins because we both have a great fondness for the ever delectable Hugh Jackman. She suggested we stop at the video store and rent a bunch of other Hugh movies but the weather was too nice to spend the entire day inside so I convinced her to go for a walk along the levee by a local park. However, the playground equipment called to us so we had to play on it for a bit before our walk.



Diana has always been an "old soul." She came out of the chute 40 years old. So seeing her play like a little kid is always something that makes me smile. Her mother never quite grew up so it's no surprise when I act like a kid.



When she announced she was going to mount the chipmunk I almost split a gut laughing.


Then it was my turn to ride the duck. Yes, the sign said the playground was designed for children 5-12 years old. The one other family present didn't seem upset that we were interpreting that loosely. I think the duck was less than happy though.




We did discover that being too big for the slide meant a less than thrilling ride.

After we finished the safety testing of all playground equipment we crawled up the levee for our walk. It was a grueling expedition.

We took our walk during which I was told I do not know how to amble properly. When I heard music coming from a nearby house I stopped to dance to it so Diana could rest after my breakneck speed. Mercifully, there is no video of my dance moves. By then we were hungry so we headed to the food court and the dollar store to load up on lunch and movie snacks. Yep, we stuffed all that into a big bag to sneak it into the theater. We were two wild and crazy girls breaking all the rules...skipping school, ignoring the playground age limits, contraband movie snacks. I'm telling ya, Thelma and Louise had nothing on us. We also wisely chose not to end our lawbreaking spree by plummeting into the Grand Canyon.


We enjoyed drooling in tandem over the ever delectable Hugh Jackman (but I am calling dibs on him since he's my age, though I am glad I have imparted such good taste to her.)
It was a good day. I was touched by her desire to spend time and make some special memories with me. Rules are good, but sometimes you just have to know when to break them.

35 comments:

Shadow said...

that is SPECIAL!

G-Man said...

....brought a tear to my eye Trini.

Polt said...

How could you say no inDEED. :)

I;m at work, so I got no sound, but the video of you on the duck was hilarious even though it was silent! :)

HUGS...

for a different kind of girl said...

What a fun, fun day (and should I tell you most colleges around here are done now and the kids were home in time for Mother's Day?)(ha!)! That will, without question, be a fun day you'll both remember, and the Milk Duds just make it a nice bonus!

Love her braids, too, btw!

KFarmer said...

Cherry and I used to "skip" and go watch the Harry Potter and Lord of the RIngs movies...when the fair came to town off we would go to see the animals... Those were our special times together :)

I'm so happy for you~ and you will hear no comment from me about breaking rules. Ten years from now you both will not remember what you did the day prior or after the skip, but the day of skipping~together :)

Bijoux said...

How fun......and Junior Mints/Cheese Puffs/AZ iced tea all rock!

Jen said...

OK, glad you had fun and all that, but OMG what a gorgeous daughter you have!!!!! I would kill for her coloring...
Enjoy her while you can. My daughter is in her junior year of college, and between interning a state away and studying abroad, we have barely seen her in the last two years!!!

Craver Vii said...

Too much fun! As a home-schooler, it doesn't feel quite as naughty for me when we do the same thing. One day last year, the power went out at work, and I took the whole family ball at a park... which happened to be near a school. I'll bet those kids were jealous. ;-)

S said...

I love to play at the playground!
You guys totally scored, looked like there were no kids that you had to share the toys with!

I definitely sneak stuff into the movies. What do they expect? Their concession prices are completely unreasonable.

Glad you had so much fun with your daughter #1!

Desmond Jones said...

Love those spring-loaded duckies!

Goodness, Diana knows which buttons to push, doesn't she? Clever girl you've got there. . .

And - no video of the Lime Dance?

Ananda girl said...

What a wonderful day. Well worth breaking the rules. She is beautiful, by the way.

I am in a room full of students taking serious tests and not allowed to make noise... this was a real challenge with that duck video. I had to go to the restroom to let a good giggle out.

Really, they should have adult sized playgrounds for us to play on. It's not that we outgrow playing... we outgrow the equipment.

Anonymous said...

That does look like a truly memorable day you spent together and I agree that your particular apple has not allen very far from her gene tree.

I would like to think that my kids have some memories like that.

Anonymous said...

what an awesome day!!! :) Mother daughter time is so wonderful and very necessary!

LMAO..... I snorted watching you on the duck!!! I love it!!!

Suldog said...

Absolutely magnificent! The image of you riding the duck's beak into the ground will suffice to drag me out of any melancholy encountered during the next week or so. I'll think of you on the duck, break a smile, and all will be well.

MY WIFE and I did something similar with My Mom on her 65th birthday. We took her mini-golfing, to the batting cages, for a big sundae, to buy a bag full of penny candy, to play pinball and video games, and just generally never let her think about being 65 even once the whole day. It was great fun for all of us, and you two seem to have captured that same spirit.

James Goodman said...

What a great way to spend the day. I'm glad you two got a chance to spend that kind of time together. Opportunities to make memories like that don't come around near often enough. :D

Maddy said...

What a treat for everyone.
Cheers

airplanejayne said...

What an excellent day you had, and a perfect memory you created

david mcmahon said...

Now THAT's a perfect day, Lime!

Jazz said...

Yay for rule breaking. Especially when parents participate..

(M)ary said...

how fun! or should i say Hugh fun!

(M)ary said...

You have raised a wonderful daughter and you are so blessed that she loves your company! A mother and daughter enjoying each other's company is not as common as it should be in this world(from my perspective)

jillie said...

That's a day you could never put a price on! You have a great girl on your hands there!

There are some great memories I have of my mom as well from my school days. She would ask me if I had a test or anything "important" for the day and if I said no, we would go to the mall and to lunch and just hang out and talk. They weren't very often but I treasured EVERY one of them.

Hilary said...

What a perfect day. Maturity is so overrated. Wonderful bond you and your daughter have. :)

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful way to make great memories...when are they going to make a playground for adults??? Great pics...

Anonymous said...

Skipping with purpose! Gotta love it!

Mona said...

I am so glad to see you both enjoying so much! The photos are great!

EmBee said...

This post just makes me SO happy!

I know we all tend to report on the teenage frustrations we deal with but to see the beautiful side of our relationships with our kids makes all that other stuff simply dissolve.

And when that duck took a nosedive? Well, I almost peed my pants!
:-)

Jericho said...

I have missed my visits to your place... This posting reminds me why, and implores me to not let too much time come between visits.

I am not surprised your daughter is growing into such a fine, intriguing, beautiful, and creatively thoughtful woman. She's your daughter, after all. I, however, am surprised you didn't catapult over the head of that damn duck.

Thanks for sharing this. I will return sooner....

Jocelyn said...

This is SO dear. Lovely.

But you two need to keep your paws off my Hugh.

Anonymous said...

A great daughter! You are blessed.

Cheffie-Mom said...

How fun! What a special day! Congrats on the Post of the Day Award from David's authorblog!

Anonymous said...

That was a really lovely post. It's so good to be a child again even if we are grown up.

CJ xx

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Daughters are blessings! Came from authorblog. Congrats on your POTD. This was a winning post to be sure.

Amber said...

What a FABULOUS day full of memories! I hope my daughter and I have that kind of relationship! Way to post it. And ditto on the delectableness of Hugh Jackman.

Moosekahl said...

I think that is the coolest day to play hookey ever! See-saws, contraband movie snacks, and family! Well done