The Snake

Since Elementary school started two and half weeks before Pre-school my four-year-old and I have had some real bonding time.

Yesterday we were outside enjoying the gorgeous fall weather and playing Star Wars. I was "Ventrewess with two wight sabers" and he was a "Cwone wif a gun". We were perusing the woods looking for bad guys when we got to the neighbors house. They have this cool backyard with gargoyles, traffic lights, stone bears, and a trail that leads to the creek.

My four-year-old stopped at a small tree and pointed out a snake. Knowing that Mrs. Wales like to be very creative in her garden I said it must be fake. I even poked it with a light saber and the thing didn't move. The way it way hanging on the side of the tree I assumed she nailed a rubber snake to the tree.

It was not fake however, and when my son went over to touch it, it curled up, dropped off the tree, and started to slither towards us on the ground. Being the girl that I am, I screamed and practically threw my child down the makeshift steps into the creek. When we landed at the bottom I started laughing hysterically and my poor child is now staring at me in shock.

"Mom!! Why did you make me touch it? It was weal, a weal snake!" As the reality is dawning on him he starts to shake and cry and look at me with a look of total disappointment. How could you mom!

All I could do was scoop him up and apologize. Of course I was still laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all. I told him how cool it was that he got to touch a real live snake and how lucky we were to see it on a tree like that. When that didn't seem to phase him, I added that his dad and brother where going to be really jealous.

That worked. We told the story 10 times yesterday, and it still makes me giggle. Thank goodness I didn't send him flying into the creek, I don't think I could have snaked my way out of that quite so easily.