I came to the decision this weekend that when it comes to heights and going fast, my child is fearless. I’m raising a daredevil, people! A sweet, beautiful, obsessive, smart DAREDEVIL! Don’t get me wrong. I am happy she is not afraid but when I have to sit beside her smiling and trying not to throw up all at the same time…that’s a lot of pressure! Let me back up and explain.
Sunday after church, we ventured to the carnival at the Brownwood Coliseum. I had two bracelets for unlimited rides. In a moment of weakness, I decided that I would be the one to ride all the crazy rides with her. For some reason, in that brief moment, I honestly thought ‘how bad can they be?’
Kiera was ecstatic as she dragged me from ride to ride. We started out with the small rides, the ones that she could ride by herself. It was amusing to watch how excited she was as she bounced around on a motorcycle or boat. Although, as Aaron and I watched her going around, you could see when she became bored of going in circles. That probably should have been a red flag for me.
We decided to go across to the bigger rides. Kiera’s eyes lit up as she saw the rides whirling in different directions. Now, you will have to forgive me. I didn’t actually catch the names of the rides we were on. So, I will just name them.The first ride Kiera dragged me to was the Swing of Despair. This ride had long chains hanging from a round carrousel. The chains were attached to chairs. After you strapped into the chairs they begin to spin around and around causing the swinging chairs to go out at an angle. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
We strapped in and I put one arm around Kiera and held on tightly with the other hand to the bar. Kiera giggled as the ride started up. I remember watching my feet fly over the operator’s head and wondering why he was never concerned about someone falling on to him.
As we picked up speed, Kiera shrieked with laughter and shouted, “Faster!”
Faster? I was pretty sure that if we went faster the world would never stop spinning! I grinned at Kiera while inwardly giving myself a pep talk.
Somehow, I managed to survive and as the swinging chairs came to a halt, Kiera said, “Again! Let’s go again!”
How about we go look at the other rides?” I asked.
She happily grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the exit gate. Aaron noticing my ‘I survived death’ look pointed and said, “How about that white one? It doesn’t look bad.”
I should have paid better attention or maybe my sweet husband should have specified which white one. I looked up and saw a white octopus looking ride and pointed it out to Kiera. “Look, baby. Let’s go over there.”
Kiera once again latched on to my hand and dragged me across the carnival grounds heading to our second ride. Again, I am not sure of the name, but let’s go with The Spinning Spaceships of Doom.
This little gem consisted of spaceships that tilted slightly as it achieved an orbital speed not unlike a real space shuttle.
As Kiera and I got to the front of the line, Aaron stepped up and said, “Umm… I was talking about that ride.” He pointed to the right of us.
Perfect. I had no chance to change Kiera’s mind as the gate opened for us to begin loading. We climbed on and pulled the bar down to keep us locked in. My nervousness must have started to show as she and I sat in our little spaceship waiting for the ride to start. Kiera laughed and smiled her sweet little smile at me saying, “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
At that moment, the ride started. Once again, I had an arm around Kiera and held on for dear life with my other hand. We begin to pick up speed and I felt Kiera being pushed into my side. Now, here is where you can tell the difference between us.
Kiera laughed and squealed with delight. She let go of the bar and curled into my side, giggling the whole time. “Are you having fun?” She yelled to me.
“Oh…” *insert nervous laughter* “Oh, yes!” I yelled back as I braced myself, fighting the force that tried to push me against the wall. My right hand squeezed the bar that held us in the spaceship. My knuckles turned white. My feet were pushed as hard as I could against the floor. At the same time, my left arm that was wrapped around Kiera was doing a great job of not squeezing her to me. Somehow, my left arm managed to stay calm while the rest of my body fought the force.
As we swung around and around and around and around, I wondered if I would make it off the ride. Kiera was doing great! Me…well, I wasn’t doing so great. I finally closed my eyes and prayed that it would end soon and that I would be able to get off the spaceship without my legs collapsing and making a fool of myself.
Finally, the ride slowed down. I looked down at Kiera. Her face was glowing and her smile could have lit the entire coliseum. We got out of our spaceship and thankfully I managed to get out and back to my husband without any mishaps.
Kiera bounced with excitement talking to her Daddy. I stood for a brief moment before resigning myself. I pointed to the steps of the coliseum and mumbled, “I’m going to sit down.” I stumbled to the steps and sat down while trying to reassure my stomach and head that I was done for a bit.
I did go on a couple more daring rides with Kiera after taking a much needed break. I have to admit, I wouldn’t trade those moments. Even the moments where I was pretty sure I was not going to make it off the rides. Seeing Kiera’s face and hearing her squeals of delight somehow made it worth every minute.
By the way, I am going to need someone to remind that I said it was worth it the next time a carnival comes to town.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a four year old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
