Hard Lessons Learned at the Playground

From the first visit to the park you attempt to enforce certain rules:

1. Don't eat sand, it's yucky and gritty and it's blechhhhy.

2. Don't stand at the bottom of the slide.

3. And FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T STAND IN FRONT OF THE SWINGS WHILE SOMEONE IS SWINGING.

Max has the first two down and learned the third the really hard way today.

I was standing across a small field with Marley and a little friend of Max's we'd taken to the park. I look up and there's Max wandering around the swings and right in to the path of a little girl happily swinging back and forth (her mother had just finished pushing her extra high).

I yelled, "Max stop." Yeah, this doesn't usually work, and it didn't today although I think he slowed down briefly.

Then I yell, "Max keep your head down." Yeah, he doesn't even know what this means.

Then, he got ROCKED! Wow, knocked right off his feet and landed flat on his back. Kaapow!

I've checked his teeth numerous times (he still has them all and none of them seem loose). He is eating just fine and other than about a minute of intense sobbing he was fine.

We'll see if he learned anything from this the next time we visit the park.