Mother Daughter Day

Last night when we got home from baseball, Hannah asked me if we could have mother / daughter day just the two of us and do something fun. I said sure and said she had to plan the day and decide what we were doing to do. That... was my first mistake.  I have no pictures to post of our day. Why? Because Hannah took me on an adventure obstacle course filled with zip lining.  I was hanging on for dear life, not taking pictures. My 9 year old self would had thought it was a blast and a perfect day. My 40 year old self... well, I thought I was going to die out there. It was 102 degrees and I was zip lining from trees and had to get through obstacles of walking on a single line 200 ft in the air and swinging from ropes and balances on sticks to get to the next platform. OMG.

But here is what I learned today. Hannah is fearless, brave, adventurous and will be an amazing teacher on day. She had done this before with some friends this summer, I however had not. ( because a first is a last for me on this adventure). Hannah walked me through each step on how to attach the harnesses, how to best get through the obstacle, she cheered me on, she laughed at me and helped me along the way. At one point I was hanging off a rope a bit scared, and at the same time laughing hysterically picturing myself and what I probably looked like, and little Hannah had already made it to the platform watching me saying " you can do it mom, swing to the other side, use your left foot and pull". All the while she was standing there giving me the thumbs up with a big smile on her face ( also laughing at me).

I loved spending the day with Hannah. She had a great time, conquered some fears, got a lot of exercise, and laughed a lot through the day. She was a sweet heart and I am pretty sure she will remember this for a long time.  Why... because her mom made a complete idiot of herself. Picture if you will... the 2nd to last zip line of the course, it is a long one and above the parking lot with many bystanders below. Hannah has already made her way across standing on the platform already. Me, little nervous goes for it. Somehow in the middle of the line I get turned backwards and randomly pick up speed just as I was about to hit the platform ( backwards).  I don't even know what happened other than I bounced back and went half way back to the middle of the line. Oh guess what happens when you are stuck about 300 yards away from a platform? You have two options. 1.) Call for help and they send a rescue person to get you and pull you in. 2.) You face backwards and pull yourself to the end. My ego, and fear of a larger embarrassment to my daughter went with option 2.  Sure, I can do this. I am hanging 200 ft in the air and about 300 yards from the nearest platform, what could go wrong? I pulled, pulled, pulled pulled. Arms were shaking, stomach muscles clenched and burning. Some woman named "mama bear", yes... "mama bear" kept yelling... "mama bear goin' git you da rescue squad, hold on girl".  Ut huh.... I assumed mama bear I could do this on my own, just needed a rest stop in the middle of the air.   And I did, I pulled and pulled, imagined myself hanging off a cliff and needed a few more pulls to survive  ( insert drama) and I got there. I was a sweating hot mess, out of breathe, and Hannah was laughing and embarrassed. Success. This is what parents do best right?

Outside of my idiotic self, it was a great day and I will be sure to do two things. One, go on another mother daughter outing soon and two, plan it myself.  We ended our time at Menchies getting some frozen yogurt to cool off and laughed about our day. Hannah told me she was proud of me for doing. I told her I was proud of her fearless brave little self, but mostly for being an awesome teacher to me. She was so sweet, kind and patient.  There needs to be more days like this.   I am sure Hannah will laugh herself to sleep tonight, but it was worth it :)