Rain, Rain Don't Go Away-The Sequel

I already told you how much my children like rain here. Today as forecasted it rained almost 3 inches. That is a lot of rain even for my family!

Somewhere around 10:30 I was smiling and looking out my back windows when I noticed a small flood beginning in the back yard. Fred has done some landscaping around the new addition, and as a result we weren’t exactly sure where all the water would land in different areas of our yard. Today was testing day.

I saw a small lake forming but also noticed it wasn’t getting into our basement, or anywhere near the foundation and heaved a sigh of relief. Still, I knew Fred would be concerned to see how it all drained off when he pulled in. An hour or so later he came through the door and headed immediately back out. It seemed the drain pipe, about 3 feet around, was a bit clogged so he jumped into his back-hoe to dig a little and make sure there wouldn’t be any additional problems.

My little ones were all dying to play in the rain but I am not big on keeping them out while the back-hoe is operational so I held them back. Well, the little boys snuck past me at some point. Next thing I know Mary had joined them in the rain. They were a safe enough distance away but I knew I had to keep my eye on them all. Sarah was nipping at me heels the whole time begging to go out and join the others. I held onto her and said firmly "no".

So Sarah and I stood side by side on the almost screen porch and watched Fred dig in the rain. I couldn’t believe how deep the puddle was, at least 4 feet or so. Soon enough Fred parked the back-hoe and climbed off. He started telling me he had figured it out and just needed to rake it a little when suddenly we both caught the flash of a small person running by.

Sure enough Sarah had decided this was her moment to break free. Within seconds she was headed towards Fred. He said she had a bewildered look on her face and was running like the swineherd into Lake Genesserat. And then she was gone, all two feet of her under the 4 foot puddle.

And then Fred was gone too.

When I next saw them they were both, sopping wet from head to toe, and covered in mud. Sarah was screaming and frozen from the cold rain water and the overall scare. Fred was clutching her and recovering from a mini-stroke. She had plunged- God only knows why- headfirst into the most dangerous place in the entire yard.

The small lake is already drained and disappeared from the yard. But I don't think Fred and I will ever look at that patch of land quite the same after it almost swallowed up our two year old.

I took her in after stripping off every stitch of clothes and warmed her by the fire. She cried and cried and cried some more. Then she yawned and took a nap. Sarah seems perfectly fine now. 

Fred, not so much.

Being a Parent is fraught with danger.