It's all downhill from there

We are home from our two-week tour of Texas, and we had a wonderful trip! Lots of dirt, delicious food, game playing and visiting with friends and family. Today, it was back to reality, in so many ways. One of the fun things about coming home from vacation is that there is always a day or so of behavior issues to deal with--just so the kids can find out if the rules have changed while we were away. The rules never do change, but the kids insist on checking anyway. At one point today, Weston was sitting on the stone bench right outside the kitchen, that will one day surround our yet-to-be-purchased hot tub. For now, this area is strictly off-limits to the kids, as it is quite a safety hazard. There is a precarious pile of dirt and gravel just beyond the bench and a fairly deep drop-off to the slab for the future hot tub. So, Weston was sitting there, specifically to see if we still had rules about that. Well, we do. So, I opened the kitchen door to tell him to go play somewhere else. He took that opportunity to see if we still have rules in place about back-talking. Well, we do. So, I took a step toward him and took hold of his arm to get his attention. The next thing I knew we were both rolling down the gravel hill. It was maybe the biggest parenting fail of all time! Weston was scared stiff, and he scraped up his elbow and neck a little. But, I came out far worse than he did. I scraped my ankle, my knee, my hip, my hand and my elbow, and was in no position to issue punishments. And, worse than that, my pride was wounded something serious. I mean, I don't even remember the last time I scraped up my knee in the gravel! It was the most ridiculous thing ever! But, at least I didn't rip my pants or something on the way down! The last few weeks of 34 have certainly been interesting. I hope it's not telling of what 35 is going to look like.