Sledding Can Be Beautiful

I caught a bad case of cabin fever today so despite the cold weather I decided to take the boys sledding. Well, I tried to take the boys out sledding, but E fell asleep in the car, and T was very crabby, so my Mom and Dad stayed in the car with them while M and I went sledding. He LOVED it. Last year he was marginally okay about it, but this year I think he is old enough to really enjoy it. We went down together about five times (before we went over a huge bump and I hurt my butt and back - sledding is much more painful as an adult), and then M went down twice by himself. Last year when I sent him down by himself it ended in near disaster - he almost took out a little kid (going really fast) and then finished with a face full of snow when his sled tipped over. This year, he was enjoying going down together so much (screaming like a little girl the whole way down), I wasn't sure if he was going to want to try it by himself, but when I asked him if he wanted to give it a shot alone, he answered, "YES!" So, I took him over to the somewhat smaller hill and explained how to bail if a tree was in his immediate path. I was pretty sure he was going to get hurt, but like all good moms, I gave my baby a kiss, told him he could do it, and let him go off on his own adventure without me to protect him. I didn't give him a push - I just let gravity do the work, and immediately his sled veered toward a telephone pole at the bottom of the hill. I wanted to freak out and scream "BAIL!", but I didn't and watched as my little boy steered the sled back toward the middle of the hill and had a grand ride all the way to the bottom and into a private back yard - where a tiny little tree waited for him. He bailed before he hit the tree (just like I had taught him!) and stood up looking very pleased with himself. I was so proud of him and could tell this was one of those defining moments of parenthood - my little baby bird is starting to fledge - and it is a beautiful thing.