Sometimes, I can be mean. I don’t always like it. Some people mistake my honesty for something mean-spirited. That bothers me.
Others times, however, it can be fun. I had one of those opportunities recently when my mother-in-law visited.
I love my mother-in-law, but I know how to push her buttons. I had a perfect opportunity when the topic of my trip to Hersheypark with Bridget came up.
We decided to head to Hershey almost on the spur of the moment. Maria had plans to sell some of her hand-stamped cards at an event in western Maryland, and I needed something to keep me from having to take Bridget to western Maryland.
Hello, Hersheypark.
We hadn’t made a trip up there all year. So many things kept getting in the way, and I thought we had missed our chance. That is, until I was faced with the prospect oif driving 90 minutes to look at country crafts.
Maria didn’t mind because she can definitely live without walking around an amusement park all day. Plus, my plan gave her an opportunity to spend all day with her best friend. Everybody got what they wanted.
Bridget and I got even more. When we arrived at the park, we discovered that she had grown enough to ride on almost all the rides in the park.
For most of the day, she didn’t take advantage of this. Even though she has done a few bigger rides with me this summer, she just wanted to ride alone on all the kiddie rides this time. I thought she was wasting the privileges of being a Peanut Butter Cup.
At the end of the day, she came through for me. The sight of Tidal Force soaking people to the core was too much for her to resist, even if we didn’t have bathing suits or a towel with us.
I don’t know which is more fun – plummeting 120 feet on an amusement park ride with your 5-year-old or seeing the look on her grandmother’s face when she finds out about it.
To top it all off, Bridget accented the story with hand gestures to show how high we went and how fast the car dropped into the water below. She laughed through the entire thing.
My mother-in-law did not. I never felt so good being bad. By the look on her face, you would have thought I had refused to ever let her see Bridget again.
We almost didn’t get a chance to enjoy this special family moment. Each time we walked past Tidal Force – which shoots water onto the sidewalk to soak those not on the ride – she would get closer and closer to the splash zone.
On the way to our last few rides of the day, she told me she would ride it next year when we came to the park. I immediately pointed out that she was tall enough to ride this year. We were in line within seconds.
I would never put my little girl in harm’s way, but I have so much fun finding out where other people draw that line.
Maybe next year, we will get the chance to see how a roller coaster goes over.