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Health & Fitness

Jumping the Alligator


I love my house. When we were buying it, there was one flaw that gave us pause - a small pond on the back edge of our property.  We weighed the pros and cons and decided that it was the perfect home for our family, in the part of town where we wanted to live, and that the small, quiet cul-de-sac (with one way in and one way out) would afford us other securities that would out-weigh the dangers of the pond.

The property behind our house is bi-leveled and the pond sits on the lower level on the edge of a wooded area.  So, we just don't go down there and hope that the "out of sight, out of mind" tactic will keep the girls safe.

I have also used another tactic to ensure their safety.  And this one, I'm kind of ashamed to admit - the scare tactic!

Over the years, I have made up lots of stories about the pond to keep the girls away (or scare the be-jeezus out of them).  I have told them about bears in the woods (which is actually kind of true - there have been bears spotted near those woods).  Coyotes, fisher cats.  (again, actual threats).  And then one day I jumped the shark.  Or you might say I jumped the alligator.

I was feeling particularly worried about the pond that day and I told them that Daddy had seen an alligator in it.  We talked about the alligator for a while...  Compared and contrasted it to a crocodile (particularly the Tic Toc Croc). Talked about his big, sharp teeth, and his slimy skin, and the girls were scared.  Actually terrified. Which reassured me.  Which probably means that I am a terrible mom and that they will end up in therapy, but I slept better that night.  I admit that they had a little trouble falling asleep as they were worried that the alligator was going to come into the house, but I assured them that he had to stay down by the pond or he would shrivel up.

And so my plan worked and I told myself that I had not scarred them for life.  Until this week.  They were occupied and I had a few minutes to myself, so I turned on the TV and watched the end of Ellen.  The news started and I was weighing the option of staying on the couch and ordering a pizza from my iPad instead of cooking dinner and all of a sudden the story came on.  An alligator had been found in a pond in New Hampshire - really not that far from us.  Probably 45 minutes.  And then, without even thinking, I called for them to come in and I re-wound the news and showed them the clip with the alligator in the pond.  I knew I was making a big mistake as I was doing it, but I couldn't stop myself.  And they asked to see it again and again and we watched it 5 or 6 time.  I had officially secured my place in the Mommy Hall of Shame.

And as bed time approached, I worried about nightmares, but they fell asleep without much fuss and I think only one of them brought up the alligator.

But, as life would have it, my plan back-fired because guess who was the one with the nightmares that night?  Well, Mommy of course.  I had a terrifying dream about the girls going near the edge of a pond with a ginormous alligator in it.  I was trying to scream at them, to warn them of the alligator, but of course my voice didn't work and finally the littlest one went in the water and headed right towards the big scary alligator and I shot up in bed, soaked in sweat, with my heart beating out of my chest.

Lesson learned? Maybe.

And if any parents out there have done something similarly shameful, please feel free to share.

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